Umesh Marpalli

Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Apr 11: People living at Megadde, Kudlu and Ajjolli within Nadpal gram panchayat limits near Hebri are frustrated at the lack of development and basic facilities in their villages. Their anger at the inertia of people's representatives has reached such a stage that they are thinking in terms of not exercising their franchise in the Lok Sabha election this time.

These places suffer from lack of roads, buses, schools, telephone connection, emergency medical services and other amenities. People are annoyed and fed up by the callousness of people in positions of power who are expected to provide these things to them. The villagers held a protest, duly expressing their aim to boycott polling for the Lok Sabha election being held on April 18. They poured out their feelings of being neglected in the presence of media.

Nadpal gram panchayat has been identified as a naxal-infested region. There are 120 houses in Megadde, Kudlu and Ajjolli areas within Nadpal gram panchayat limits. Many of these houses belong to scheduled caste/tribe families and backward classes. These areas have over 600 voters. But these places lack road connectivity. The 15 kilometer long road between Nellikatte-Megadde and Kudlu that was asphalted two decades back has not been repaired or upgraded thereafter. As the road has been extremely bumpy with lot of potholes, buses have not been moving on this road since long. Therefore, students, coolies, and villages are forced with the need to walk to 20 km to reach the nearest downtown. The situation turns challenging during the monsoon months.

Locals, Gulkaru Bhaskar Shetty, Narayan Bhat Devasthanabettu, Naveen Shetty, Sujatha Hegde Kollangar, Gunavathi Ajjolli, and Suresh Vanajaru, who were among the protesters, claimed that a number of children have stopped attending their schools because of the challenged posed by the wretched road.

Fee is charged to visitors who want to visit Kudlu Theertha here. This is a popular tourist destination, and the wildlife department collects about ten lac rupees from the tourists in the form of entry fee and vehicle parking charges every year. In terms of an agreement this department had entered into with the rural forest development committee, 25 percent of amount collected by the department was to be spent for the development of this rural area and 25 percent was to be remitted to forest department. It is learnt that only ten percent is now being given for local area development and the remaining money is unaccounted for. The people wonder whether the legislator and Lok Sabha member representing the area are in deep slumber.

Although the deputy commissioners of the district, legislators, and MPs have often promised to visit this place and take steps to address the local problems, none of them have come here. However, workers of political parties promptly visit houses during the election time to seek votes. People say that seeking votes has been the only task these people have rendered so far.

It is said that a sum of one crore rupees had been released for the development of this road. It is gathered that this amount has been shifted elsewhere, to the detriment of the people here. People like Bhujanga Shetty, Vijaya Shetty Babu Shetty Ajjolli, Shekhar Shetty Melchavadi, Srinivas Mavinahadi, and president of Progressive Citizens Forum, Sanjeeva Shetty, who were among the protesters, said that they have decided to stay away from casting their votes this time, and instead, hold protest demonstration in front of the office of the deputy commissioner of the district.