Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (HB)

Udupi, Nov 18: Given the constant delays in the four-lane road works from Brahmavar to Cherkady, MLA Raghupathi Bhat has demanded the immediate felling of trees. "Since a year and a half, the construction work has not been taking place because of opposition from the forest department. The government-sanctioned Rs 30 crore, the tender has been allotted, work order has also been sanctioned but we have been waiting for a response from the forest department," Bhat stated at the general body meeting of zilla panchayat held at Dr V S Acharya meeting hall, Manipal here on Wednesday, November 18.

"I have asked for an additional fund of Rs 25 crore, but the chief secretary of Karnataka is not ready to sanction it. I will not tolerate it anymore. Everything is ready but due to the delay of work, everything else is getting affected. If the sanctioned fund gets withdrawn by the government, the forest department will be held responsible," Bhat announced, pointing at the district forest officer (DFO). 

Bhat questioning the forest department said, "If the forest department received clearance from the public, why are you delaying in cutting the trees? It is not the responsibility of the public works department (PWD). If the forest department needs any support for transportation, we will make the necessary arrangements. Government officials should be working within boundaries of the law."

Answering to Bhat’s demand, DFO Ashish Reddy who was present in the meeting said, "The PWD has not given the total count of trees. I will visit the spot soon and look into the actual problem and fix the issue by this year," he assured.

Meanwhile, a PWD officer said, "Construction was done for about 200 meters till Little Rock School. We have paid Rs 60 lac to the forest department, Rs 36 lac is pending which will be sent at the earliest."

Geethanjali Suvarna, zilla panchayat member raised the issue of incompletion of National Highway (NH) construction work from Padubidri to Kundapur. "Since many years we have been raising the same complaints in every zilla panchayat meeting but to no avail. The incomplete and unscientific road construction has endangered many lives."

Officer of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), in response to questioning on NH, gave specific dates by which the pending works are expected to be completed. "By December 25 one side of the highway work at Padubidri will be completed. Another side will be completed by March 10, 2021. We were unable to hire labourers due to coronavirus pandemic. Kundapur flyover will be completed by March 21, 2021," he said.

Janardhan Thonse and Shashikanth Padubidri said that 163 fishermen did not get the subsidy of Rs 7,77,800 and many of them did not get feasibility certificates (those who applied before 2016). The subsidy amount of over 38 persons is pending. They have yet to receive it this year, they maintained.

Sheela K Shetty vice president addressing MLA Bhat said that the staff working at the senior citizen helpline centre were not being paid salary for over a year. She pointed out that the employees at the centre were in a miserable condition since they were yet to receive the pending remuneration. She urged the MLA to immediately convey this problem to the government.

Janardhan Thonse a zilla panchayat member demanded a Lokayukta investigation concerning the road construction project near Kotambailu in Kokkarne. The total cost of the project is about Rs 2 crore. However, the quality of the road constructed is quite poor. Even the zilla panchayat president has examined the work. Amidst all this, the Varahi department made the payment of Rs 2 crore to the contractor, Thonse said. He further alleged that there was foul play in the project and demanded an investigation which included a government official.

Chandrika Ranjan Kelkar raised the issue of potholes along the Hiriadka-Karkala road. "It is posing a danger to the commuters, motorists," she said while requesting to find a temporary solution for the issue.

On the other end, Shashikanth Padubidri accused the company Suzlon of resorting to corrupt land dealings. He alleged that the company was selling their land at a higher price, which they had initially purchased by the farmers at a lower price.  

Tree park to come at Kemmannu: 

A beautiful tree park will soon be coming up at Hattikudru in Kemmannu. The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 2.7 crore. Referring to this, the DFO stated that it would be an ideal project for the people of Udupi and Manipal. Over 30 acres of land is available in this place and a proposal for transforming the area has been sent to the concerned department.

Dr Naveen Bhat CEO of zilla panchayat, Dinakar Babu president of zilla panchayat, Sheela K Shetty vice president zilla panchayat, Shobha G Putran president, standing committee, Pratap Hegde Marali president, education and health committee, Sumith Shetty president, social standing committee, Srinivas Rao project director and other members were present.