Pic: Umesh Marpalli

Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SK)

Udupi, May 11: Former president of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi Fish Marketing Federation Y Gangadhar Bangera and Vijay Bangera on Thursday, May 10 said that Hejamady port project has been pending from the past 25 years.

Sharing his disappointment in front of media, Gangadhar Bangera said, “The Hejamady port project is the most cherished project of the people which hasn’t been completed over a period of past 25years. The idea of building a port at Hejamady is 25-year-old which was given a spark by Jayapraksh Hegde while he was the minister of Fisheries. Later, after a lot of discussions, the project was dropped. After that, the governments which came into power did not look into the issue.

“A new plan, with budget and location was assigned. The place is a 50-60 acre of land a few kilometers away from the previous location. Vinay Kumar Sorake and Pramod Madhwaraj appealed to the parliament about the port and hence the state government made a proposal to the central government. It is been a year since the proposal. We even went to New Delhi and met union minsiters Radha Mohan Singh and Nitin Gadkari where they gave a letter stating that they will come and check. But nothing has happened so far. Fishermen are moving to Malpe and working on others’ boats and others staying in Hejamady are now unemployed.

“We just want an approval from central government first and want the funds to be sanctioned so that the work of the port starts at the earliest,” he said.

Vijay Bangera said that they had even made a number of requests to Shobha Karanadlaje, but that proved futile as she never paid heed to their requests.