Kumaraswamy appeals to Govt to amend Article 371

Gulbarga, Jul 16: Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy today urged the Centre to amend Article 371, which was crucial for the development of the backward Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

Addressing newspersons here, he said he had submitted a memorandum to the Centre in this regard and was pursuing the matter.

Despite the Congress being in power in the State and at the Centre for about 40 years, the Governments had failed to act, he criticised.

Assuring that his Government would strive to develop the H-K region, he disagreed with a suggestion that holding Assembly session in the region would help develop the region.

Mr Kumaraswamy said he had met the Railways Minister thrice to urge expedition of the Gulbarga-Bidar railway line and setting up of divisional railway headquarters in Gulbarga.

He said construction work for the circuit bench of the High Court here would be completed fast. A temporary bench of the High Court would not be set up here as the High Court had rejected the proposal, citing lack of infrastracture, he added.

Admitting that land grabbers were usurping precious land in and around Bangalore, he said a House Committee had been set up to identify the grabbed lands and confiscate it. The amount, generated by the process, would be given the H-K region to carry out development works.

Later, Mr Kumaraswamy inaugurated the first ''green building'' in public sector in the country here and dedicated the Bennethor major irrigation project, about 40 km from here. The green building, housing the Inspector General of Police office, was aimed at promoting environmentally responsible, profitable, cooler and healthy places to live and work. The significance of the building was usage of existing landscapes, recycled building material, renewable sources of energy, effective water usage and improved indoor air quality.

Constructed at a cost of Rs 3.22 crore, it provided thermal comfort at optimum energy consumption, usually generated by air-conditioners. Wind towers, which reduce internal temperature by about 10 deg celsius, have been installed. Large windows allowing maximum sunlight and special glass panes reducing heat radiation while permitting day light harvesting have been used.

Composite stone walls and brick masonry, insulating the building against heat, have been adopted. Pseudo triangular pillars add architectural aesthetic value to the building.

UNI

UNI