Minister Jarkiholi bats for improvement in infrastructure of industrial estates
Mangalore Today News Network
Mangaluru, Sep 15, 2015 : Minister for Small Scale Industries Satish Jarkiholi on Sept 14, said that road infrastructure in all industrial estates in the State, including the ones in Mangaluru, will be improved in a phased manner.
CM Siddaramaiah has set apart Rs. 100 crore for the current financial year and it will be equally distributed among industrial estates, Minister Jarkiholi said, responding to demands from the Kanara Small Industries Association (KSIA). The Minister said that after taking over the portfolio, he visited every district to see the problems of small-scale industries. Dakshina Kannada is the ninth district and he will visit Udupi Sept 15.
The association also highlighted several other problems being faced by them at the Baikampady Industrial Estate, the second-largest in the State (900 acres, 600 units, over 10,000 employees).
The industrial estate lacks an underground drainage system as well as treatment plants to treat sewage as well as industrial effluents. As a result, sewage and effluents join storm-water drains which later join natural water sources thereby polluting the environment, the association said.
Responding to the demand for a treatment plant, Minister Jarkiholi said that the Department would immediately start working on providing such plants in all industrial estates. The situation is alarming, the Minister said. He also promised to look into the demand for UGD system.
While the association claimed that the industrial estate, though within the limits of the Mangaluru City Corporation, had not been handed over to the civic body, KIADB claimed that the handing over had been done way back in 2003.
The association however said that mere submission of a letter to MCC was not enough as KIADB did not submit any other document to the civic body. Minister Jarkiholi directed KIADB officials to sit with corporation officials and thrash out the issue.
It also urged the Minister to arrange for KSRTC city bus services to the industrial estate, to which area MLA Mohiuddin Bawa said he would urge the Deputy Commissioner to arrange the same with KSRTC’s JNNURM buses.
Association President Henry C.F. Britto, Vice President Gaurav Hegde, Secretary Ajith Kamath, Deputy Mayor Purushottam Chitrapura and others were present.
The Minister later on went on a visit to the industrial estate to get first hand experience of the problems.
Minister for Small Scale Industries Satish Jarkiholi on Monday directed the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board to put forth its case before the High Court and get the stay on repossession of land allotted to Jayaprakash Engineering and Steel Company (JESCO) vacated.
Minister Jarkiholi’s directions came after the Kanara Small Industries Association told him that neither the government nor the KIADB have filed objections to the petition filed by JESCO challenging government’s action to repossess 986.52 acres of land allotted to it around Baikampady industrial area.
With JESCO doing nothing since 1996 after getting the land allotted, KIDAD repossessed about 200 acres and the remaining is still with JESCO. The government should take steps to repossess all the land, the association demanded.
At a time when the costs of LED lights have drastically come down, the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB) has stuck to the tender conditions to install about 400 sodium vapour lamps for lighting the streets in the Baikampady Industrial Estate.
While changing from sodium vapour to LED would entail an additional expenditure of about Rs. 16 lakh, the same would reduce the monthly power bill from estimated Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 60,000. The annual maintenance collection from the estate is about Rs. 12 crore and if sodium vapour lamps are installed, the entire collection would go for power bills, the Kanara Small Industries Association told Minister for Small Scale Industries Satish Jarkiholi.
Minister Jarkiholi responded saying he would get the issue settled at the KIADB Board meeting and would ensure LED lamps are installed.