BELAGAVI: Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Friday inaugurated the 62km stretch of road between Belagavi and Yaragatti which was upgraded under the world-class road safety pilot project to reduce accident deaths and injuries.“We will gradually develop all state highways on the lines of Belagavi-Yaragatti stretch,” Kumaraswamy said after inaugurating the road, a joint programme of police, PWD, health, education and transport.The road, which passes through Sambra airport, has been developed at an approximate cost of Rs 90 crore on a pilot basis. While the World Bank has contributed 80 per cent of funds, the remaining is shared by the state government.Sensitisation of public and road users on safety aspect and traffic rules is also part of the project and KSHIP, a nodal agency for the project, will take up this through rigorous campaign.The CM watched a short video on how the project works to safeguard the lives. He also inaugurated the calendar, radio jingle and other campaign material on the occasion.Transport minister D C Thammanna, MLA Satish Jarkiholi and others were present.PWD minister H D Revanna’s penchant for an auspicious time is well known. On Friday, he was the first to arrive at the venue of the programme but he took 14 minutes to get off his car due to rahu kalam (inauspicious time). He also left the venue before the inauguration took place.In his brief appearance, Revanna clarified that the KSHIP sub-division office has not been shifted out of Belagavi. “What we shifted to Hassan was the special sub-division office of KSHIP,” he said.The issue sparked off a controversy three months ago with several organisations staging a protest accusing the Gowda family of being anti-North Karnataka.

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