Belgavi  :

The first silver industry park of the state will come up near Mangur village of Chikkodi taluk in Belagavi district. CM Siddaramaiah will lay foundation stone to the project on Saturday, participating in a South India’s largest agriculture summit ‘Agrovision South’ in Belagavi.

Karnataka Small Scale Industries Development Corporation (KSSIDC) will be implementing the project in 16 acres provided by the state government that generates around 10,000 employments for locals. “The park will be ready to use within next four months”, said B Gurappa Naidu, chairman of KSSIDC.

Border village Mangur is located around 28kms away from Chikkodi and 93kms away district headquarter. Village has around 1,400 families with 7,000 population. Almost all families in this village do the silver work, which is sub-profession for them. All family members including men, women and kids are well known about the art of making silver ornaments.

Another village Hupari, just 5kms away from Mangur falls in Maharashtra is also famous for silver jewellery making. The handmade silver foot chains for ladies designed in these villages do not made anywhere in the country, Gurappa Naidu says. Other silver ornaments like earrings, necklaces, chains, bracelets etc., also manufactures here. However, most of the jewellery artists of Mangur are depending on Hupari for marketing and raw materials.

Speaking to the TOI, Naidu said silver industrial park will be developed with concrete roads, drainages and chemical water treatment plants and facilities like water and electricity. “There is a plan to develop the silver park into silver industrial cluster with the help of central government aid. Already, I have written letter to union minister for micro- small and medium enterprises Giriraj Singh in this regard”, Naidu said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hubballi / by Ravindra Uppar, TNN / February 20th, 2015