Hubballi gets face lift with Rs 810 cr projects

NT Correspondent

Hubballi: Hubballi-Dharwad administration here in Karnataka has completed several redevelopment projects worth Rs 810 crore, including the restoration of a “dying” lake and building a green mobility corridor, under the the smart city mission of Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, officials said on Tuesday.

Under the Centre's smart city mission, 63 redevelopment projects were undertaken for the 11 lakh people of Hubballi-Dharwad in a bid to improve the ecology of the city and boost the local economy.

Fifty-nine projects of these have been completed, they said. Tolankere Lake (Tolan means fox, kere means lake), a dying water body with hardly any marine inside or terrestrial life around it, has become a hub of visitors after its redevelopment, officials said.

They said that there was excessive silt collection and very little water holding capacity in the lake and the entire area had become barren and dry. The project took nearly four years to be completed – from October 2018 to April 2022.

It got delayed due to the Covid pandemic, Managing Director of HubballiDharwad Smart City Limited (HDSCL) Rudresh Ghali told PTI. Torenkele Lake is the most loved community space in Hubballi and is an excellent example of how a dead lake was brought to life, officials said.

Since its opening, over 500 people visit it during the weekdays, and the number swells to 1,500 on weekends. It has also become the starting or ending point of every public awareness or fitness rally held in Hubballi.

Given its popularity, property prices around the lake have quadrupled.