Daijiworld Media Network - Beltanagady

Beltangady, Jan 16: As a mark of protest against the government over provision of land for the homeless poor, the CPI (M) in a sudden move built as many as 163 shelters on a government land at Arali of Ujire village here.

"Nearly 30,000 people in the village have no home for themselves. The demand for shelter has been has been repeatedly rejected by the government from nearly 2 years. Several protests have been organized in this regard, but in vain. As a result we are encoaching government land in eight villages," said Sivakumar and B M Bhat of the CPI(M).

As many as 163 shelters in Arali, 43 shelters in Parenki, 38 in Barya, and 21 in Kaniyoor have been built. Earlier, the DC himself had cleared the acquired land. Plans were afoot to build a KSRTC depot on this land, but as it did not materialize, it was decided to hand over the land to Ujire panchayat.

Taluk president Keshava M, tahsildar Kusuma Kumari, Ujiri PDO Susheel Hegde visited the spot.  Jayaram Mayya, Vasanth Nada and Shekar Laila of CPI(M) supported the protestors. There are possibilities of the taluk administartion clearing the illegal shelters.