HUBBALLI: It has been nearly a decade since a proposal to develop a dedicated protest zone in the twin cities, along the lines of Freedom Park in Bengaluru, was submitted to the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC), but it is no closer to being realised in 2021 than it was in 2012. It was the pressing need to prevent assemblies and demonstrations at Kittur Chennamma (KC) Circle at the heart of Hubballi that impelled the authorities to contemplate the creation of a dedicated zone for protests.
Demonstrations at KC Circle nigh invariably lead to traffic pile-up in most thoroughfares of Hubballi and Dharwad, since the circle is a nodal point connecting the twin cities to various national highways and the airport.