The Congress government in Karnataka tabled a Bill in the on-going winter session of the legislature to constitute the Karavali Development Board to fulfil its pre-poll promise .
Ahead of this year’s Assembly elections, during its Prajadhwani Yatra in Mangaluru in January, the Congress had announced a 10-point charter for the development of coastal Karnataka. Among other assurances, it had promised re-constituting the Coastal Development Authority, Mangaluru as a statutory body with an annual budgetary allocation of ₹2,500 crore to create employment and investment opportunities.
Unlike Kalyana Karnataka Regional Development Board, Kalaburgi; Bayaluseeme Development Board, Chitradurga; and Malnad Area Development Board, Shivamogga, the coastal area comprising Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada districts lacked a board for the overall development of the belt.
The Karavali Development Board Bill, 2023 tabled in the Assembly on December 5, states that the board shall prepare an annual plan containing programmes and projects for development of Karavali (coastal) area, supervise the implementation of projects and programmes, and monitor and evaluate the implementation of its plan.
The objectives of the board comprise promoting the development and conservation of water resources in the Karavali area, to adopt soil and water conservation measures in rainfed agriculture systems of the Karavali area, and to promote development of forest and horticulture in the Karavali area. In addition, the board will promote and support activities in the agriculture and allied sectors in the Karavali area, and promote animal husbandry, fisheries and inland water transport.
The Bill states that there shall be a fund called the Karavali Development Board fund.
The Bill states: “It is also considered necessary to amend the schedule to the Malnad Area Development Board Act, 1991 (Karnataka Act 36 of 1991) to exclude Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada districts within the meaning of Malnad area.”
A 23-member Karavali Abhivruddhi Pradhikara, or the Coastal Development Authority, had been constituted on September 8, 2008 by the BJP government led by B. S. Yediyurappa. The then Bantwal MLA B. Nagaraja Shetty was its first president.
