The plan proposes ring roads for the towns concerned, as part of an exercise to regulate their growth and expansion. The other towns from Shivamogga district covered under the plan are Tirthahalli and Hosanagara.
The government order, dated July 18, has invited suggestions and objections from the public on the road network grid plans. Many have already submitted their objections to the offices of the respective Assistant Directors of the Directorate of Town and Country Planning.
Farmers from Holehonnur and neighbouring villages held a meeting at Sugur on Tuesday to discuss the issue, and resolved to stage a protest in Shivamogga on Friday. They oppose the proposed ring road on the grounds that it would affect agricultural land spread across 26 villages. They argued that the town did not need further ring roads, as it already had good connectivity in all directions — towards Shivamogga, Bhadravathi, Chitradurga, and Davanagere.
They also pointed out that the number of vehicles entering the town had dropped drastically since the inauguration of a bypass on the Chitradurga–Shivamogga highway (NH 369), which, they said, had hampered the town’s growth prospects.
H.R. Basavarajappa, president of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, told The Hindu that nobody wanted a ring road for the town. He said the purpose of the project was unclear, since the town already had good connectivity, and that all that was needed was an improvement of the existing roads. He said the proposed ring road map showed the road running next to existing highways and major district roads, and that besides displacing farmers and taking away their source of income, the project would serve little purpose.
Mr. Basavarajappa said the farmers would take out a protest march in Shivamogga city on Friday, opposing the plan, culminating at the office of the Directorate of Town and Country Planning at Millagatta in the town, where the participants would file objections to the proposal en masse.