A centre to take care of endosulfan victims will be opened at Koila in Puttur taluk on October 6, according to K.T. Shailaja Bhat, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat President.
She told presspersons here on Monday that it would be opened at a building of the Sericulture Department of the panchayat which was not in use. The centre would be managed by Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP), a non-governmental organisation.
It would be the second such centre in the district. The first centre was being managed by the SKDRDP at Kokkada in Belthangady taluk.
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K.N. Vijay Prakash, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the panchayat, said that according to a survey conducted earlier there were 510 endosulfan victims in the district. Another survey would be conducted by this month end to find out if there were any new cases.
Mr. Prakash said the panchayat was constructing a toilet at Nelyadi on the National Highway 75 connecting Mangalore with Bangalore. It was for the use of commuters on the highway. Another toilet would be built at Gundia. The Forest Department was yet to give its approval for constructing it on 30 cents of land.
An official of the Department of Horticulture said that 42 farmers in the district had taken up oil palm cultivation on 30 hectares of land. Its cultivation was being taken up in the district for the first time.
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The Chief Executive Officer said that of Rs. 213 lakh proposal sent to the State Government for the development of Malekudiya tribal people, the Government had released Rs. 95 lakh. It was a special grant from the Government.
The term of the president would expire on October 7.