Moves afoot to transform Mangalore into a port city, says MLA

MANGALORE: Mangalore City South MLA J R Lobo has announced a five-pronged strategy aimed at developing this coastal city as a port city. The prime areas of focus in this strategy includes providing basic infrastructure at the old port at Bunder, replicating the same to perk up local fisheries industry, upgrading basic infrastructure of the city per se, giving ample thrust on developing tourism, and giving fillip to IT and industrial sectors.
Unveiling his vision of port city on Saturday, Lobo said he has been assiduously following up on the proposals for the last one year. This is also part of the Congress party's manifesto which assured to the voters that the city will be developed as a port city, Lobo said, adding it is also part of a long term road map drawn up for the city's overall development. "Not all of this will happen in the next five years and we have made a beginning," he noted.
The project of developing Mangalore as port city was discussed at a high level meeting that Vinay Kumar Sorake, minister for urban development chaired in Bangalore, Lobo said, adding a decision was taken to rope in experts and consultants to take forward this process. Permission has been obtained for several of the envisaged works, Lobo said and this includes tender process, preparation of estimates, administrative approval and so on.
Opining that there is need for nodal agency to take up these issues with the state government and follow it up on the ground, Lobo said he has also requested the district in-charge minister B Ramanath Rai and the chief minister Siddaramaiah to reconstitute the Coastal Development Authority. "There is a sense of negativity in the government on the need for the authority," Lobo said, adding yet is pursuing this issue with all requisite seriousness.
Drawing on his earlier experience as commissioner of Mangalore City Corporation, Lobo said it will need concerted efforts on part of all concerned to realise the various thrust areas drawn up in the port city project. "With a considerate state government and amenable people in the corridors of power in New Delhi, the city can march towards becoming a port city," Lobo said, while requesting stakeholders to show a certain amount of patience.