A detailed project report is being prepared to get Varahi water to meet the drinking water needs of Udupi city. more-in Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, said on Tuesday that a Detailed Project Report (DPR) was being prepared to get water from the Varahi to the Baje Dam at Baje village to meet the drinking water needs of Udupi city during summer. He was delivering the Independence Day message after unfurling the National Flag at the Mahatma Gandhi Bayalu Ranga Mandira, here. Mr. Madhwaraj said that though water is supplied to Udupi city from the Baje Dam across the Swarna, the river went dry during summer. Hence, water would have to be brought to this dam from the Varahi, which never went dry. Since the city lacked a proper underground drainage system, it had been decided to construct a modern drainage system at a cost of ? 370 crore. To provide services of all government departments under one roof in a people-friendly manner, an “UdupiOne” Service Centre would be opened in Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) limits by the end of this month. People would be able to change their details in Aadhaar cards, give applications for ration cards and passports online, and avail of 30 other services at this centre. As much as 9.35 acres of land at Herga and 1.66 acres in Shivally had been identified to given to eligible beneficiaries without sites in Udupi CMC limits. There were a total of 595 persons without sites in Udupi city. To propagate the thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi, the government had sanctioned ? 3 crore for the construction of a Gandhi Bhavan here. Accordingly, land had been identified at Shivally for the bhavan, which will reflect local architecture, and be ready next year. An amount of ? 1 crore had been sanctioned for the construction of Maulana Azad Bhavan at Shivally here. Of this amount, ? 30 lakh was being spent on the construction of the compound wall for the bhavan. The construction of the ? 10-crore Mini Vidhan Soudha, which was going on at the Old DC Office premises here, would be completed by the end of this year. Development works worth ? 5 crore would be taken up at the Malpe fisheries harbour here. Under a pilot project, three gram panchayats — Gangolli, Varamballi and Nitte — had been chosen to reduce garbage generation under the Swachh Udupi Mission, Mr. Madhwaraj said.

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