Mangalore: Sea Erosion and One-upmanship Go Hand in Hand !
Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore (MM/MB)
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Mangalore, Jun 20: As the monsoons began in full swing in the coastal region of Karnataka, the menace of sea erosion too has reared its ugly head, affecting the entire belt.
In Ullal, seven houses have already been devoured by the roaring waves and almost two dozen more are facing a similar fate. Sea water has already entered many houses, remaining at knee-deep level in a few..
In Kotepur, Hilerianagar and Subhashnagar of Ullal, high waves have been hitting the sea shore without respite. The wave-breaker stones laid along the sea shore last year are gradually being washed away. At the same time, many residents here started vacating their houses and moving to safer places.
B Nagaraj Shetty, district in-charge minister of Dakshina Kannada district has paid visit to the sea erosion affected places at Ullal on Tuesday June 19 evening. Speaking to mediapersons, he said that Rs 25 lac had been sanctioned for carrying out relief operations in sea erosion-affected places. At the same time, the state government has been requested to sanction Rs 3 crore for this purpose, he informed. U T Khader, MLA of Ullal, was present at the occasion.
Due to heavy rains in Dakshina Kannada the roaring of the sea has intensified. As many as 60 houses are on the brink of danger.
A rescue work began and the people who lost their houses were shifted to safer places and a centre has been started to meet their daily needs.
Affected areas of sea erosion have been identified as Kotepura, Mogaveerpatna, Subhashnagar, Mukkcheri, Kaikohileria Nagar and C Ground beach.
Who is responsible?
For years the government and the leaders have been giving assurances of suitable steps to contain sea erosion but nothing has happened till now. There is a game of one-upmanship betweenthree different political parties. The state government is ruled by the JDS-BJP coalition, while the people of Ullal have reaffirmed their faith in Congress by electing U T Khader in the recent by-election.
Many people of Ullal feel that they could be 'punished' by the state government for the 'fault' of favouring Congress by way of starving them of developmental funds, whereas the sources in the ruling combine would like to know what happened to the funds sanctioned every year in the name of sea erosion during the past two decades.
Though umpteen promises have been made so far and several politicians have also said funds have been released for the same, the sea continues to threaten the lives of hundreds living on the shores.
Udupi report:
Sea Erosion in Maravante
Rivers in Udupi district in full spate (Pics RK Durga Digitals)
In Maravante near Kundapur also, high wavesmaking inroads into seashore. The protection wall which was constructed many years ago has also been washed away here. As a result, the shops constructed near the protection wall are facing danger now.
On the other hand, National Highway 17 itself is under threat now. Two wheeler-riders are scared to travel on this road because of the high wind.