R B Jagadish
Daijiworld Media Network - Karkala (SP)

Karkala, Feb 7: In a police encounter jointly staged by the then Udupi district superintendent of police Murugan (who is now the police commissioner of Mangaluru), and crime branch head Ashok, in the house of Bollottu Ramappa Poojary in Edu village in the taluk several years back, two Naxals, Hajima and Parvati, were killed. Another Naxal activist, Yashoda, had survived by a whisker in this operation, which was executed at Edu village located at the foot of Western Ghats.

After this incident, the state government declared offensive against Naxals, whose presence was increasingly being experienced in villages spread across the Western Ghats. More shots were fired from both sides in the ensuing years, and some more lives were lost in further operations, and the government declared rewards to those providing information about elusive Naxal leaders, who often surfaced in villages and incited people to wage war against the system, duly promising to protect them from harassment and exploitation. Realizing that Naxals were cashing in on the under development of the region to gain foothold, as an effective measure of tackling Naxal menace, the state government also came out with special packages for the development of Naxal-infected regions.

Mala in the taluk was one of the villages which saw rays of hope and glimpses of brighter days as development works were initiated there because of Naxal presence. However, with the waning of the Naxal movement in Western Ghats, the pace of development initiatives in this village have slowed down considerably.

'Namma Grama, Namma Rasthe' is an initiative undertaken by Karnataka government for the development of roads in villages. Under the special Naxal package, development of road between Nooralbettu from Mala Chowki had been undertaken. The work on this road began on March 19, 2013, and it is almost two years since the work began. So far, there are no indications of this work getting completed soon, going by the pace of the pending road works.

Out of this 3.9 km long road, three km was proposed to be asphalted, while the remaining road stretch was to be built of concrete. 20 main culverts and eight cross culverts were part of this road development project for which the government had released a grant of Rs 3.5 crore.

If completed, this road would have proved to be a boon for the village residents. They could have reached nearest market place, Hosmar town, by covering a distance of six kms. Buses also could have been introduced through this road, which would have paved way for development of Mala village.

At present, work on a bridge has been stranded on this road. On the side of this bridge, a very old minor bridge that is in a precarious stage, exists. Heavy vehicles cannot tread the road because of this weak bridge, and if the bridge collapses, connectivity between two sides will get snapped instantly.

The land adjacent to the bridge, work on which has come to a standstill since long, belongs to an individual. Considering that the bridge will benefit hundreds of people, owner of the land, M Ramesh Shenoy, had donated a piece of land for the purpose, after the district deputy commissioner held talks for the same.

A noted social worker from the region, Kiran Kumar Hegde, has pitched for immediate resumption of stranded works. Noting that 75 percent of the work on road development has already been completed, he reminds that development projects do not undergo changes when governments change. He warned that the citizens of the region may resort to agitational means if the work is not resumed and completed within a short time frame.