Karwar: In the State budget presented on Friday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai has announced various projects for Uttara Kannada district.

A large number of people welcomed most of the projects, while a few opposed the chief minister’s announcement on the commercial port expansion project.

The State’s first water transport and fishing training centre would be set up in Karwar City. A hi-tech fishing port worth Rs 250 crore at Majali under the Prime Minister Matsya Sampada scheme, financial aid for 100 deepsea fishing boats under the Matsyasiri scheme to promote deep sea fishing, integrated environment and tourism centre at Tadadi, Shri Narayana Guru Residential School, implementation of 24 projects at a cost of Rs 1,880 crore under the Sagar Mala project, expansion of Karwar port have been announced in the budget.

Apart from this, a greenfield port at Kene-Belekeri, construction of houses for fishermen under the Rajiv Gandhi Housing Corporation, Rs 840 crore worth project to prevent plastic pollution in water sources of the coastal region have also been announced by the chief minister.

CRZ guidelines

Bommai has assured of appealing to the Centre to relax the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) guidelines for promoting coastal tourism activities in the district. 

Fishermen of the district though welcomed many projects, expressed their ire for the announcement of the commercial port expansion project.  

Speaking to DH, Uttara Kannada district co-operative fish seller federation president Raju Tandel said, the fishermen community are against the expansion of the commercial port in Karwar for several years. Even now, they oppose the expansion works. Hence, the State government should drop it.

Kali water project

During the budget, Bommai also announced measures for implementing the Kali river water project to provide drinking water to five districts of north Karnataka. 

Reacting to it, Dandeli Taluk Rachana Samiti general secretary Roshan Netravali said, the project of using Kali river water to fulfil the drinking water needs of north Karnataka region is unscientific. 

“Before announcing environment-related projects, local bio-diversity and environment should be considered. Discussions on the pros and cons of the project should be discussed with experts, in-depth studies should be held on river flow, catchment area, and carrying capacity,” he stated.