Hubballi:  Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Coal Prahlad Joshi on Saturday said that currently the Centre is building roads at a cost of Rs 80,000 (Eighty Thousand) crores in the country under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana with the aim of ensuring safe journey on our roads.

Already Rupees 1.25 (One point Two five) Thousand Crores have been released for the First phase of the work, he said and added that as part of the above Project, an amount of Rupees 1,000.00 (One thousand) Crores have been granted to Karnataka which includes the building of 3200 (Three Two Zero Zero) Kilometers of Roads in the Rural areas in the State.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony of a Rupees 7. 78 (Seven point seven eight) Crores Bus stand at Kalaghatgi Town near here today, Mr. Joshi said that the number of accidental deaths have been increasing in the Country and building good roads will help reduce the accidents. He said an amount of Rupees Five Crores have been granted under the NPCIL Fund for the building of Sports Complex in Kalghatgi Town, while more than 4000 (Four thousand) Desks have been provided to Government Schools in Kalghatgi Taluk which falls under his Parliamentary Constituency.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Transport, Mr. Lakshman Savadi said that his department, with a strength of 1.30 Lakh of Employees had suffered a loss of more than Rupees 3700 (Three seven zero zero) Crores due to Covid-19 Pandemic. Still, in order to help its Work force, the state government has released Rupees 1746 (One seven four six) Crores to clear their salaries.

Mr. Savadi said that the new Bus Stand built on a Five Acre land is equipped with all the amenities including Separate Toilets and Rest rooms for men and women passengers and will be able to handle buses daily connecting 88 Villages in the surrounding areas.

Mr.Savadi said that following a decision by the Government, Purchasing of a total of 350 Electrical Buses, each costing Rupees 55 (Fifty five) lakhs is now under process. Of them, Three Hundred Buses will be used in Bengaluru, while the remaining Fifty Buses will be delivered to the Twin cities of Hubballi and Dharwad he said and added at the same time about Two thousand buses will be withdrawn from the streets as each of them have run more than Nine Lakh Kilometers of distance. They will be converted as future Public Toilets and Bathrooms.

Speaking on the occasion, State Minister for Major and Medium Industries, Mr. Jagadish Shettar said that due to the operation of Private Buses in the Twin Cities of Hubballi and Dharwad, the Public Transport Department is losing Rupees Twenty Crores every month. Describing the services of Private Buses as a menace, he said they should be stopped and more buses should be operated to connect to the Rural Areas.