Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Jan 28: Karnataka Fisheries Development Corporation's (KFDC) land holdings and buildings at Gangolli are wearing a neglected look because of non-maintenance and negligence. KFDC here exemplifies the extent to which government assets can degenerate and get decomposed if negligence of department and officials is compounded by failure of the government.

Gangolli in the taluk was well-known for spices and fishing in 1940s. It was a leading port even during the British era. As it was a leading commercial centre after Mangaluru and Goa, the government then had been releasing enough grants to give fillip to fisheries development there, as a result of which Gangolli got transformed into a well-equipped fisheries centre.

In course of time, the facilities here were marred by the negligence of the government and lethargy of officials. As a result the ice plant set up by KFDC was declared as being under loss. The fisheries training centre set up opposite the ice plant, which had in the past provided training to traditional fishermen in scientific methods of fishing successfully, has now turned into a worn out bungalow because of lack of maintenance and development works on a regular basis.

KFDC holds hundreds of acres of land here, with over 24 residential quarters. As maintenance of these residential quarters has been stopped completely, private individuals have been occupying these buildings. KFDC, which collects some minimum rent from those who hired the houses from it, has been claiming that it is impossible to maintain these buildings out of this meagre income. In such a scenario, no one understands why the departments, corporations and governments implement such schemes in which government money goes down the drain.

As soon as the ice plant stopped functioning, the machinery therein were auctioned through tender. A diesel bunk and a small ice plant have been set up near Gangolli port. At the same time, the land under the control of KFDC continues to be in neglected state.

Those living in KFDC residential quarters say that basic amenities are missing, with drinking water problem being the most prominent. Some people living there on rent have dug bore wells, while some use water from open wells for washing and collect drinking water from far off houses. The flooring of these houses have peeled off and the terraces look like running the risk of crashing anytime now.

Locals allege that immoral and unethical activities are going on at these buildings. A look at the buildings reveals the presence of playing cards, torn out bed sheets, worn out mats etc.

KFDC, which was in deep debt once, is earning some profit after setting up diesel bunk and ice plant in port area. But it has totally failed to either develop its vast tracts of land and to provide more opportunities to the fishermen here, rue locals.