The ongoing drive to clean up K.R. Market will get a spot of cricketing glamour if Mayor B.S. Sathyanarayana has his way. He has invited Karnataka’s well-known cricketing icons Anil Kumble and Javagal Srikanth to join the drive and inspire more youngsters to pitch in.
“Both of them have agreed to come once the KSCA elections are over,” said Mr. Satyanarayana, at a function organised by Dr. Nallur Prasad Samskritika Pratishtana here on Tuesday.
Plea to writers
The Mayor said actor-turned-politician M.H. Ambareesh had also agreed to join the cleaning drive. “I request litterateurs also to join this important exercise to keep the markets in the city clean,” he said.
In response to a plea by the head of Kolada Math Shanthaveera Mahaswamiji, who presided over the function, Mr. Satyanarayana agreed to develop a garden around the grave of K.P. Puttanna Chetty, the late philanthropist, which is on the premises of the math.
The seer said large tracts of the property that earlier belonged to the religious institution had been given away for the development of Bangalore. “One important road in the city should be named after the math in recognition of this contribution,” he said.
He claimed that maths and temples were being unnecessarily “targeted”, making an oblique reference to the recent oral observation by the Karnataka High Court as to why there were no laws to govern the maths. “Why not ask how politicians are not being reined in?” he said. The seer said close to 40,000 temples under the ‘C’ category were in a pathetic condition and the priests there were in penury, demanding that the government bring them under welfare schemes like Yashaswini.
At the programme, four people — G.H. Hanneradumath, Prabhamani Nagaraj, Anand Madalagere and Parveen — were conferred awards for their contribution to the fields of literature, music and teaching.
