Udupi (The Hindu): Pramod Madhwaraj, MLA, said on Saturday that the State government had agreed to provide round-the-clock-power supply to Udupi taluk as it housed the coal-based 1,200 MW thermal power plant of the Udupi Power Corporation Limited (UPCL).

Addressing presspersons here, he said that he had approached Chief Minister Siddaramaih and Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar last year and requested them to provide 24-hour power supply to the taluk.

The people had given up their land for the sake of the project. Both Mr. Siddaramaih and Mr. Shivakumar had considered his request. Accordingly, the State government had issued an order to the Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (Mescom) to provide round-the-clock power to Udupi taluk, when the UPCL plant was working to full capacity and there were no technical glitches, he said.

Mr. Madhwaraj said that the State government had transferred 41 cents of land of the Old DDPI Office here from the Department of Public instruction to the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) for construction of a separate city bus- stand for 30-low floor buses. A Government Order to this effect would be issued soon.

Once the land was handed over and the new bus-stand came up, the Regional Transport Office could issue timings for these buses in two or three phases. The 30-low floor buses would help women, senior citizens and children as they would be easier to climb. These buses would operate in Udupi city and its surrounding villages, he said.

Mr. Madhwaraj said that the State government had also decided to provide 3.94 acres of land belonging to the Public Works Department at Bannanje here for the construction of a modern KSRTC service bus-stand. The proposal to transfer 3.94 acres of land from the PWD to the KSRTC would come for approval before the Cabinet shortly, he said. P. Yuvaraj, President of Udupi City Municipal Council, and Janardan Tonse, chairman of Udupi Urban Development Authority, were present.