The Karnataka Government is planning to upgrade three city municipal councils in the State into city corporations.
Interacting with presspersons at a ‘meet-the-press’ programme organised by the Dakshina Kannada District Working Journalists’ Union in Mangalore on Tuesday, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Karnataka Urban Development Minister, said that the Government is planning to upgrade the city municipal councils of Tumkur, Bijapur and Shimoga into city corporations.
The meeting of the State Cabinet, which is scheduled this week, will discuss on upgrading these city municipal councils into city corporations, he said.
At present, Karnataka has eight city corporations. They are Bangalore, Mangalore, Mysore, Davangere, Bellary, Gulbarga, Hubli-Dharwad and Belgaum.
'Greater Mysore'
On the proposal to set up ‘Greater Mangalore’, the Minister said that the MLAs of Mulki-Moodbidri and Mangalore Rural have agreed to form ‘Greater Mangalore’ by including towns such as Mulki-Moodbidri, Ullal and Farangipet.
A ‘Greater Mangalore’ will bring these areas under the jurisdiction of Mangalore City Corporation. Such a move would help in the overall development of the region, he said.
Demands are there in Mysore to form Greater Mysore by including towns such as Nanjanagud and Srirangapatna, he said.
Urban local bodies
The Urban Development Department in Karnataka has set up a revolving fund of Rs 3,250 crore to boost the growth of urban local bodies (ULBs). This fund helps the ULBs to get loans at low-interest rates for the development of infrastructure in their jurisdiction, Sorake said.