The State Cabinet, on Wednesday, decided to constitute an empowered committee for development of ring roads in 25 district headquarters under the Town Planning Scheme.
The committee has been given five-year term and the estimated cost of the survey is ₹275 crore.
The committee will be headed by the Additional Chief Secretary of Urban Development and will have secretaries of Finance, Planning, Municipal Administration and related departments as members to conduct a survey and submit a report to the state government, T.B. Jayachandra, Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, told reporters after the Cabinet meeting.
The survey will cover 25 cities, mainly district headquarters. It would involve acquisition of lands and providing connectivity to national highways.
One law
To bring all urban and municipal corporation laws under one law, the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, has been asked to study all laws and submit a report to the government. Currently, there are many urban laws, including Karnataka Municipal Act, 1964, Karnataka Municipal Corporation Act, 1976.
The State Cabinet has approved the release of ₹25 crore for repairs, renovation of the existing building and construction of new buildings and for providing other facilities to Karnataka Arts, Science and Commerce College, Dharwad, in view of the centenary celebrations.
Recruitment
It also approved the Karnataka Forest Department Services (Recruitment of Meritorious sports persons in the category of Deputy Range Forest Officers, Forest Watchers) Special Rules, 2017, for recruiting national and international sports persons. The Forest Department has decided to fill 125 posts under the sports category. Currently, there were 54 vacancies under the category, Mr. Jayachandra said.
The Cabinet had also decided to grant of 77.93 acres of government land in Gonalu Village of Hospet taluk in Ballari district for impounding reservoir project for the JSW Steels factory. The factory would utilise the water for industrial purpose.
A total of 27.3 acres of government land in various survey numbers of Basavanadurga and Haruvanahalli village of Hospettaluk in Ballari district would be acquired and given to K.B. Steels Pvt. Ltd. The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board would acquire land at ₹6 lakh per acre for the project.
Policy
To make Bengaluru the electric vehicle capital of India, the Cabinet approved a new “Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy” to reduce pollution and promote healthy environment. The Major and Medium Industries Department has formulated the policy, perhaps the first of kind in the country, after consulting various stakeholders, including vehicle manufacturing industries.
Mr. Jayachandra said many developed countries have formulated the policy to promote electric vehicles. Currently, many customers refused to buy electric vehicles citing high cost of battery.
“Electric vehicles are the future. To make Bengaluru the electric vehicle capital of India and Karnatkaa an environment-friendly state, the government will soon bring out the ‘Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Policy’,” R.V. Deshpande, Minister for Major and Medium Industries said and added that the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMCT) too has plans of buying electric buses.