Tourism urged for DK

Srinivas Rao, the newly-elected president of Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said his first priority would be to develop tourism in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts.

Speaking to reporters here on Wednesday, he said, "The chamber will ensure that it will take up tourism promotion as a key objective of the chamber and request the government to provide a tourism district circuit to provide facilities to tourists in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi district."

The chamber will urge the government to depute a tourism officer for the district.

The chamber will also propose to the government to establish an immigration office at Mangalore to handle the cruise vessels carrying passengers and also provide an exclusive berth for cruise liners.

The chamber will act as a catalyst for speedy implementation of special economic zone (SEZ) in the district. It will pursue with the government the development of additional berths in the New Mangalore Port and old ports to handle general cargo vessels.

The other projects to be taken up by the chamber will include speedy completion of the Mangalore-Hassan Railway broadgauge conversion project, renaming of Kankanady railway station as Mangalore junction, merger of Mangalore station with the South Western railway zone, creation of Mangalore as a separate division under the Southern Western Railway Consultative Centre at Mangalore.

It will ensure the completion of Mangalore International Airport by October 2005 and request a new terminal building at the South Western tip of the runway.

The chamber will promote a free trade zone in the district as an extension of the SEZ.A proposal would be forwarded to the government for a six-lane highway for Bangalore-Hassan-Mangalore and better infrastructure on the Mangalore-Manipal-Mysore stretch of the National Highway.

It will seek an immediate revival of agricultural produce market committee to cater to the free trade market proposed by the Karnataka government by 2007.