Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)
Mangaluru, Jan 19: The one hundred feet long open drain located by the side of the highway opposite to the entrance to the Pompei church at Gurpur Kaikamba continues to create problems for many. So far, the people have not been able to get rid of this problem, even though they were hoping for it.
The area where this open drain is located is situated within the limits of Ganjimath gram panchayat. There are restaurants by the side of the highway and garage, shop, showroom and houses are also situated adjacent to the hotels.
Anyone sitting inside the hotel or nearby offices is sure to get disturbed by the terrible stench from the drain. People have to force their nostrils shut when moving in the area and the situation has remained unchanged for the last five years. Representations made to Ganjimath gram panchayat administration and panchayat members repeatedly about the problem apart from newspaper reports have failed to force the panchayat to act.
In the morning and the evening every day, effluents from the drain flow on to the road. In the evening, mosquitos prosper in the area. The drain is full of waste, mud and plastic waste as a result of which the water flows on the road. Newcomers are sure to be confused as they cannot decide whether there is a drain by the roadside or the road passes through this drain.
The highways department has to undertake the drain repair, but not Ganjimath panchayat. Even though several proposals ls to widen the highway were sent, this work has not been done. Therefore the problem of the drain has worsened. The newly elected panchayat administration will again draw the attention of the highways department to the problem, said Zakir R S, newly elected member of Ganjimath panchayat and immediate past president.
Kittanna Rai, leader of Raita Sangha Hasiru Sene, expressed his anger at the panchayat administration and the gram panchayat member of the area for not doing anything to address the problem. He said that because of the open drain, diseases will proliferate.