Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar announced the formation of Kittur as a new taluk of the state. Kittur will be the state’s 177th and the eleventh taluk of Belgaum district. At present Kittur is part of Bailhongal taluk.
Inaugurating ‘Kittur Utsava’ at Kittur, 50 km from here on Tuesday evening, the Chief Minister said that the government has also decided to form a few more new taluks in the state. He said that it was a long pending demand of the local people that Kittur should be made a separate taluk. Our government will fulfil the demand, he added. Shettar said that the government had allotted `25 crore to the Kittur Development Authority in the budget, adding that `2 crore would be given to preserve and protect the Kittur Fort. An action plan has been prepared for the purpose, he said. The Chief Minister said the winter session of both the houses would be held at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belgaum in the last week of November or the first week of December. The issues related to North Karnataka would be discussed in the session, he added.
District In-charge Minister Umesh Katti, Karwar MP Ananthkumar Hegde also spoke. Kittur MLA Suresh Marihal presided over the function. MP Suresh Angadi, Prabhakar Kore, MLAs, MLCs Mahantesh Koujalagi, Mahantesh Kavatagimath, Forest Industrial Development Corporation chairman Shankargouda Patil, Belgaum Zilla Panchayat president Shanta Kallolikar, vice-president Usha Shintre, DC V Anbukumar were also present.