Who ‘killed’ the cattle and fish?
The death of a couple of cows after they drank water from Gurupura (Phalguni) river and dead fish in the river earlier this month made the Mangaluru administration sit up. It had ignored this newspaper’s report in February that untreated sewage was polluting the Phalguni.
While the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board squarely blamed the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) for letting untreated sewage in, particularly from its Pachchanadi Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) ( in picture ), Mayor Kavitha Sanil hit back at the board saying industrial waste was the villain.
The KSPCB has roped in experts from the National Institute of Technology (NITK), Surathkal, and College of Fisheries, Mangaluru, to ascertain the reasons. According to G. Srinikethan, professor of Chemical Engineering at NITK, hydrography test can reveal the exact cause but human waste appears to be the main culprit besides industrial waste.
Ironically, the Minister in charge of Dakshina Kannada district is the Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment B. Ramanath Rai. He represents Bantwal but the entire sewage of Bantwal town is let out into Netravati river, the only source of potable water for Mangaluru and areas around it.
Early celebrations
Elections to the Karnataka Assembly are a year away but it looks like Hubballi’s BJP office-bearers cannot wait to celebrate what they hope will be their win. Those who have made it to the list of office-bearers are celebrating their appointment like an election victory. Some burst crackers and distributed sweets. Local publications have been full of congratulatory advertisement photographs of the office-bearers. A senior leader who frowned at the festivities could not help marvelling at their optimism.
M.B. Patil settling in London?
Here is another face of it. Campaigning during elections is a natural task of a politician, but M.B. Patil ( in picture ), Minister in charge of Vijayapura district and Babaleshwar MLA, feels indifferent about it and wants to give it a skip. “I had promised to complete the irrigation project and ensure water to your fields. The promise will be fulfilled in a few months and I don’t think I need to visit the constituency for campaigning,” he said, while laying the foundation stone for the last lap of the Mulawad lift irrigation project. Not stopping there, he said that if the people reject him in the next elections, it would be their misfortune. “It will not affect me. I will go and settle in London, but you, the people, must think of your future,” he audaciously said.
Assurance for BEML workers
BEML employees at the Kolar Gold Fields, who opposed the Centre’s move to privatise the Defence public sector undertaking, have found support in the State Minister for Health and Family Welfare. K.R. Ramesh Kumar, who is in charge of the district, assured them recently that the State government was with them.
A resolution condemning the Centre’s move will be placed in the special session of the State legislature slated for June, Mr. Ramesh Kumar told BEML Employees’ Association representatives when they submitted a memorandum to him at KGF. Disinvestment in a profit-making PSU reflects the Centre’s anti-worker policy and the State will convey its stand through the resolution, he said.
The CPI(M) has expressed displeasure that K.H. Muniyappa, Kolar MP, and Y. Ramakka, KGF MLA, have been silent. Apart from Kolar, the employees have called a bandh on May 30 in Bengaluru and Mysuru units to oppose the proposed sale to private investors.
Anil Kumar Sastry
Girish Pattanashetti
Firoz Rozindar
Vishwa Kundapura
