Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SK)

Mangaluru, Jun 8: The Katipalla Madhya Khadgeshwari temple main road in the Mulki-Moodbidri constituency is in a pathetic condition infuriating the local residents furious over the lack of responsibility exhibited by panchayat members and MLA Umanath Kotian.

This region which comes under Nalin Kumar Kateel’s Adarsha Grama Scheme, unfortunately does not boast of basic facilities. While many remote areas that come under the Adarsha Grama Scheme have progressed some are still in poor condition as they remain untouched after the elected representatives lay the foundation stone and erect banners in their name but the work never takes off.

"After the ceremony to lay the cornerstone at our location, more than six months have passed, yet work on the construction of the road has not progressed. The children of a local government school are falling sick due to the dusty roads. We had complained to our MLAs when they visited the village who said crores of rupees were sanctioned for the development, but work had not yet begun. We don't know why they are dragging their feet on starting the work even though the tender has been approved. Here, six bore wells were dug with funding from the Panchayat, but they were done in an unscientific manner. Now, there is no water in one of them,” says a local Babu Jogi.

"Six months back, MLA Umanath Kotian had laid the foundation stone on Katipalla Madhya Khadgeshwari temple main road. Pushparaj Shetty had posted the banner on the site the next day, but when we tried to contact him today he was not prepared to answer our queries. Even the leaders of the Congress could care less about our situation. Umanath Kotian had also promised to start the construction work once the election results were declared but no works have been taken up. We also have a lot of other issues including lack of access to clean water. Roads are flooded during the rainy season. The panchayat leaders are not in favour of people. Even for a small road construction, they call for a tender to partake a commission in the deal," says another local resident Charan.

"When we enquired about the road construction with our MLA Umanath Kotian, he said chief minister Siddaramaiah had told him to stop the development works for the time being. As the road is in a pathetic condition, buses have been restricted from entering the place and so we are forced to pay Rs 100 daily to travel by auto. With this we also face many other problems, we are not getting proper water facility and at night people cannot walk on this road as the street is not well lit. Leaders are not ready to listen to our problems," said Hema, local from the vicinity.