Karnataka cabinet’s decision to create separate Dharwad Municipal Corporation, has come as a new year’s gift to the citizen of Dharwad who have been demanding it for over a decade.
The apolitical movement launched by the citizen of Dharwad, under the Agitation Committee for Separate Dharwad Municipal Corporation, which was supported by various organisations and political parties has finally been answered. The decision is expected to boost civic amenities in Dharwad.
The members of the Agitation committee thanked the Cabinet for acceding to the demand. Dharwad (Rural) MLA Vinay Kulkarni thanked chief minister Siddaramaiah for fulfilling the demand.The demand for a separate municipal corporation for Dharwad, has been decades-old as the citizen feel that the city has been meted out step motherly treatment when it comes to infrastructure and development works.
Several delegations had met the chief ministers of successive governments demanding a separate municipal corporation. A delegation of eminent citizens of Dharwad, met Bommai at his residence in Hubballi in August 2021, and submitted a memorandum seeking bifurcation of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC). Bommai had said Dharwad deserved to be ‘freed’ from the HDMC and the government was actively considering this demand. This had raised hopes of the demand being fulfilled. However, Bommai did not do anything about it.
The municipal corporation was constituted in 1962 by combining two cities separated by a distance of 20 kilometres. Out of 67 wards under the HDMC 44 were in Hubballi and 23 were in Dharwad. Following delimitation, the number of wards has gone up to 55 in Hubballi and 27 in Dharwad.
The committee members had argued that Dharwad has always received a raw deal as far as developmental works are concerned. With the growth of educational institutes in Dharwad, the city is growing. Nearly 75% of the city does not have drainage system and 24X7 is implemented only in five wards,” said Manoj Patil, senior journalist and a member of the agitation committee.As per the KMC Act, any city with a population more than four lakh, can have a corporation and Dharwad fulfills the conditions. By bifurcating the HDMC both Hubballi and Dharwad stand to gain, as each will get an annual grant of Rs 100 crore, say the committee members.
