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

Kundapur, Aug 21: On the evening of Wednesday August 20, residents of Gangolli came together and protested against efforts being made to deposit waste near the seashore.

The people of Gangolli, who came together and approached a deserted spot near the seashore when garbage was being dumped there, stopped the garbage truck from doing so. They said that they had recently appealed to the gram panchayat at the ward level meeting and Gram Sabha not to dispose garbage here, and condemned the attitude of the panchayat administration in overlooking their request. They vehemently protested against the continued practice of dumping garbage at the spot, and asserted with determination that garbage will not be allowed to be deposited at the said spot.

Gram panchayat president, Reshma R Kharvi, who came to the spot, said that the panchayat could not find an alternative spot for garbage disposal in the village. She said that the administration could not clear garbage since a month because of this problem. She promised that locals will not face any problem due to dumping of garbage.

The locals refused to be pacified by this promise. They stuck to their stand of not allowing garbage disposal at this venue. Efforts made by gram panchayat members, Younis Saheb, Abdul Hadi, B Ganesh Shenoy, and former member, B Raghavendra Pai, with the help of others to convince the crowd to relent failed to have any impact. Later, the issue was temporarily solved after local police inspector, Govardhan M, spoke to the two groups, and promised people not to deposit garbage at this spot in future. As a result, the process of garbage disposal was shelved on Wednesday.

Gram panchayat president, Reshma Kharvi, said that a report will be sent to the district deputy commissioner and government departments concerned about the opposition faced from locals to the garbage dumping, seeking identification and allotment of government land for the purpose. She added that a delegation will soon be led to the deputy commissioner to hasten this process. She has asked locals too cooperate with the panchayat administration till a suitable land is identified for garbage disposal.