Arvind Bellad, Deputy Chief of the Opposition and BJP MLA for Hubballi-Dharwad West, urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday to contemplate relocating the proposed high-tech defence and aerospace park to North Karnataka to protect the financial and strategic imaginative and prescient behind the undertaking and guarantee balanced regional growth.
In a letter to the chief minister, Bellad welcomed the federal government’s resolution to withdraw the method to amass 1,777 acres in Channarayapatna and surrounding villages in Devanahalli taluk following sturdy opposition from farmers.
Siddaramaiah introduced the whole withdrawal of the land acquisition course of on Tuesday. The choice got here after three and a half years of intense protests by farmers and land rights activists towards the acquisition of 1,777 acres of fertile agricultural land in Bengaluru Rural district’s Channarayapatna hobli (village cluster) and close by villages.
Noting the dimensions of the agitation, the chief minister stated it was some of the “vital and historic” protests towards land acquisition in latest reminiscence in Karnataka.
Whereas terming the choice “comprehensible” and reflective of the federal government’s sensitivity to public sentiment, Bellad stated that Karnataka contributes about 65 per cent of India’s whole aerospace and defence output and ranks third globally within the sector.
“A undertaking of this scale and significance shouldn’t be shelved,” Bellad said, calling on the federal government to as a substitute shift the initiative to Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi, or another a part of North Karnataka. “The area affords benefits together with expert human assets, land availability, and infrastructure assist. Most significantly, North Karnataka has remained under-industrialised and economically underserved for many years,” he wrote.
“Relocating the undertaking would make sure the continuation of the state’s management in aerospace manufacturing whereas additionally bringing much-needed industrial funding and employment to the northern districts,” he added.
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Bellad urged the federal government to evaluate the feasibility of such a transfer and to contemplate the broader aim of selling balanced regional growth.