Ramanagara: Dy.CM Dr. C.N. Ashwathnarayan on Sunday said that a 108-feet statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda at the International Airport at Devanahalli will be the centrepiece of a 23-acre Central Park by February-March 2022.

Speaking on the occasion of the 512th Jayanthi celebrations here yesterday, he said that the Rs. 78-crore project executed by the Kempegowda Development Authority will be completed by February or March. Once completed, the Kempegowda International Airport authority will maintain the Park and the statue.

The Dy.CM stated that the project is not being done with an aim to compete with others, adding that the height of the statue, of 108-feet was decided for technical reasons. “It is our Government’s intention to construct this Memorial to remember and create awareness about the visionary Kempegowda, who founded Bengaluru 500 years ago and made it accommodative for all castes and religions,” he said.

The Dy.CM said that the Government will develop Kempapura in Magadi taluk (Ramangara district) where Kempegowda’s tomb exists as a historical destination.

An entire village will be developed in the name of Kempegowda and will be converted into an all-season tourist centre, he said adding that Infrastructure Development Corporation (Karnataka) Limited (iDeCK) is already working on the design to develop the village and the burial place of Kempegowda. Besides Kempapura, Avathi, Shivagange, Bengaluru, Magadi and other places wherever Kempegowda had worked will be comprehensively developed, the Dy.CM said.