Silvester D’ Souza

Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP)

Kundapur, Nov 17: Shivamogga MP B Y Raghavendra visited and inspected on Thursday evening the area of Manganese wharf, Gangolli where a huge fire mishap had taken place recently.

The MP expressed his sadness about the incident in which nearly eight fisheries boats and another boat anchored at the area of the wharf were gutted in the fire. He held discussions about the mishap with concerned government officials and local fishermen leaders. He contacted the deputy commissioner over the phone and requested him to submit a report soon to the government in this connection and try to release compensation to the fishermen so that they may revive their profession.

Speaking to news reporters later he said that fishermen who depend on the sea for their living incurred a loss of about ten crore rupees due to the fire during Deepavali festival. “Their nine boats, dingy and nets were destroyed in the fire. The lives of the fishermen were completely devastated. I visited chief minister Siddaramaiah along with MLA Gururaj Gantihole and explained to him the seriousness of the disaster. We have requested the chief minister to release Rs 10 crore as special compensation to the fishermen”, he said.

“Karnataka minister of fisheries has visited the spot of the incident and taken note of the situation. I am confident that the chief minister and the government will come to the aid of fishermen during the crisis and release Rs 10 crore within next one week. The government will be made aware of the need of a pump house here to prevent such incidents at the sea shore in the future. A proposal for a special project will be submitted to the center. The state government too should look into it. They should provide priority for the safety of fishermen and fisheries”, he said.

Byndoor MLA Gururaj Gantihole, BJP Udupi district president Kuilady Suresh Nayak, chief secretary Sadananda Uppinakudru, district vice president Anand Kharvi, BJP Byndoor Mandala president Deepak Kumar Shetty, vice president Vinod Bhandary, chief secretary Priyadarshini Devadiga, B S Suresh Shetty, Pushparaj Shetty, Sharath Kumar Shetty, Surendra Kharvi, Nagaraja Shetty Narkali, Gangolli gram panchayat president Srinivas Kharvi, vice president Prema C Poojary, Harish Mestha, gram panchayat members, party leaders, party activists and others were present.