Udupi CMC urges Reju to give priority to desilt Baje dam

Kiran Kumar, president of the Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC), said on Wednesday that the CMC had urged Deputy Commissioner M.T. Reju to give priority to remove silt from the Swarna river near the Baje dam to increase storage of water for supply to Udupi and neighbouring gram panchayats.

Chairing the general body meeting of the CMC here, Mr. Kumar said that since desilting work was not taken up, there was drinking water shortage in the city during May and June. Desilting work could be taken up only from October to December.

He along with CMC Commissioner Gokuldas Nayak had met Mr. Reju. The latter had promised to call a meeting on the issue in two days. Officials of the Department of Mines and Geology were also expected to attend the meeting. “The matter should be resolved in the next three days. If no action is taken, the CMC will have to take a decision on the issue,” he said.

The CMC had decided to organise “Udupi Utsava”, a fair, for the third successive year. The date was yet to be fixed, Mr. Kumar said.

On the implementation of ban on plastic carry bags and garbage disposal by councillor M.R. Pai, Mr. Nayak said that a door-to-door collection of garbage was being done as part of solid waste management. The ban on plastic carry bags and cups had helped a lot. The amount of plastic waste had come down in the city, he said.

Mr. Kumar said that there was an enthusiastic response from the people to the ban. Some people were even informing the CMC about the shops where plastic carry bags were being given to customers. “We will carry out raids on such shops. Udupi will be a completely plastic-free city in the next five months,” he added.

Mohan Upadhya, councillor, said that the CMC should give equal importance to disposal of tender coconut shells. Many petty shopkeepers threw them in the open, he said.

When Amrutha Krishnamurthy, councillor, said that a leakage in the underground drainage chamber was contaminating water in wells in Kinnimulki ward, Mr. Kumar directed the officials to construct a new chamber there.