Mangalore This Week - Oct 8 - 14
by Anisa Fathima - Daijiworld.com Mangalore
Mangalore, Oct 14: The city that was gripped with violence and subsequent curfew for over a week saw a steady return to normalcy over the course of the first few days of the week. Efforts to restore harmony led to the first district peace committee meeting involving the district officials and leaders from different communities. One major outcome of it was the demand for ban on bundhs.
The move, if implemented, will do a lot of good; but whether it will ever happen is the moot question. Even if it is done so, will these violent outfits follow it? Groups that cause trouble consist of the members of the lesser privileged sections of the society, and they are easily provoked as well as backed by their leaders. Formation of peace committees at grass root levels would be a good move only if secular people and those who value peace are made their members. Illegal transportation of cattle is an issue that needs immediate attention, and though no single community can be pleased on any decision in this regard, it would be commendable if the administration takes a firm measure to stabilize communal differences.
MANGALORE: FIRST PEACE COMMITTEE MEETING HELD - BAN ON BANDHS URGED
The curfew not only disrupted life of Mangaloreans, but also affected the number of passengers in the direct flight to and fro Dubai. As the days of curfew progressed, the number of passengers in this traveling decreased from a full capacity of 180 in the first two days to only 103 on its fourth flight.
Although the international flight received unprecedented response, the curfew marred its very first week. Worse, the NRIs who came to visit our city in great expectations had little choice but to be disappointed. Those on a visit had to stay indoors, and some even cancelled their tickets. The violence, apart from causing great inconvenience to them, lent a bad impression especially on those on their first visit to the city. Luckily, one may hope that most passengers were Mangaloreans, who wouldn’t change their opinions about their city so easily. Whatever be the case, the violence has definitely cast a shadow on the tourism industry.
MANGALORE: CURFEW AFFECTS TRI-WEEKLY FLIGHT SERVICE FROM DUBAI
Meanwhile, former Lokayukta Justice Venkatachala was honoured with the prestigious Shivram Karanth award in recognition of his service in curtailing corruption in the state.
The award couldn’t have been conferred on a more deserving person. He has unearthed hundreds of corrupt officials and people in public offices have been known to be careful during his stint. Nevertheless, it is amazing that in spite of bringing their falsities in the public glare, hardly has anyone been punished. What happens to these cases? Hope Justice Venkatachala's successor Justice N Santosh Hegde does something about this and gets the government to extend prosecution powers to the Lokayukta.
UDUPI: JUSTICE VENKATACHALA CONFERRED WITH SHIVRAM KARANTH AWARD
While the city's roads remained empty following the stringent curfew, the state government decided to do something about the Mangalore-Hassan road transport and proposed Rs 100 crore for constructing a new four-lane highway.
The new highway will be a boon to those who regularly travel between the two places. Not only will it facilitate smooth flow of traffic, it may also reduce the risk of accidents as lorries, tankers and buses will have more space to ply. However, it is to be seen whether the roads would be of good quality, or whether they would begin to break up with just one rainy season. It will be interesting to see how long the plan will take to actually materialize. As of now, the Centre has sanctioned only seven crore for the project. Not a great beginning, huh?
STATE PROPOSES RS 100 CRORE MANGALORE-HASSAN FOUR-LANE HIGHWAY
The NRIs who managed to fulfill the dream of getting the first international flight from Dubai to land in the city, have decided to take up the long-pending issue of setting up of a full-fledged passport office in the city. As of now, such an office is only at Bangalore causing much delay and inconvenience to passport seekers.
Now that the Bajpe airport has become international, it is imperative that the city gets a full-fledged passport office very soon. The city has a huge number of travelers who are forced to depend on the only passport office in the state. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there are more people from the coastal region who apply for passports than in Bangalore and surrounding areas. In such a scenario, absence of a full-fledged passport office in the city is more than just inconvenience. The NRI association will hopefully be able to coax the government to solve this problem also.
MANGALORE: NRIS DEMAND FULL-FLEDGED PASSPORT OFFICE IN CITY
Just as we were all heaving a sigh of relief over the alleviation of violence in the district, a fresh case of vandalism erupted at BC road towards the end of the week. Two people were stabbed and five shops were attacked in an instance where the miscreants took advantage of a power failure. Prior to this, locally-made dynamites were burst which terrified people and led to pelting of stones.
The district has already seen enough and more violence in the past ten days. It seems as if some people just can not tolerate peace. Are these people only sadists, or are they paid to kill? The latter seems more likely, as surely, even the miscreants must have suffered as much as others during the riots. Today they have destroyed other's properties and lives; tomorrow they might face revenge. Till when will this cycle continue? In the midst of this, though a finger may be raised as to what the over-worked police force was doing at this time, it is still commendable that the situation was brought under control so soon. The absence of a police commissioner is being felt in the district more than ever before.
BANTWAL: B C ROAD REMAINS CALM - SECURITY BEEFED UP - IMAGES
That was the news of the violence-hit district this week. Here's signing off until next week with a wish of a more peaceful and calmer dist
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