Dharwad: Dharwad which was once among the big districts in Karnataka was divided into three districts creating Gadag and Haveri districts. By virtue of being new district head quarters, Gadag and Haveri got new well equipped complexes for the DC’s office. The present DC office is at a heritage building, which has a rich history, and it is one of the many such buildings in the city that are reflective of the city’s tryst with the past. With a proposal to construct a new building complex to accommodate the offices of various govt departments of Dharwad, there were fears of the DC’s office building being consigned to oblivion. Thankfully, there is no proposal to do away with the heritage structure, and it will continue to remain the administrative hub of the district.The DC’s office and the rest of the building, which house the various offices, has long been deemed inadequate, and authorities have often complained of it being too congested. Furthermore, there has also been a demand for a complex equipped with all the requisite modern amenities.In 2019, the then Dharwad DC Deepa Cholan had submitted a proposal for the construction of a new administrative complex at an estimated cost of Rs 100 crore. The authorities concerned, have identified a 10-acre plot athwart the residential bungalow of the DC as the site for the complex.Meanwhile, the structure housing the Vidya Bhavan, adjacent to the State Bank of India on Karnatak College Road in Dharwad, is slated to be demolished, given its dilapidated condition. Once demolished, the site will be subsumed into the new administrative complex, said a source. The authorities have for long ignored the upkeep of the Vidya Bhavan building, resulting in its falling into disrepair. The structure was built using donations from schoolteachers of the undivided Dharwad district.However, the proposal has been languishing in Vidhana Soudha ever since. The govt has provided funds and land for construction of new district administration complexes in several districts, but Dharwad has not been lucky. In fact, there is no need to spend on the land as the govt land is available near the existing building. “Elected representatives from the district have failed to pressurise the govt to get the new complex constructed,” complained Dayanad Patil, a citizen.Soon after being appointed as the district minister, Santosh Lad had said he would make all efforts to get the proposal approved but nothing has happened since then. Every year, the district administration has been routinely resubmitting its proposal during the state’s budget consultations but the govt has been unresponsive, said a social activist Prasanna.
