Anjali Nimbalkar, MLA and Congress leader, will lead a Suvana Soudha Chalo Padayatra from Khanapur on December 12, against the alleged neglect of the backward taluk by the Karnataka Government. She will sit on a dharna outside the Suvarna Soudha when the winter session of the legislature starts on December 13.
“The State Government has completely neglected our taluk. We do not get enough funds for development. Despite several requests, we have not got development grants due to us,” she told journalists in Khanapur on December 6. “The State Government has released just ₹600 crore per year in annual grants. But this is not enough as the constituency is large.”
She alleged that the State Government had not given proper compensation to farmers who had lost houses and crops in the floods in the last few years.
“Public utilities, like roads and bridges, have been damaged. As many as 820 kilometres of roads and 23 bridges have been damaged. As many as 255 school rooms have been built. All these need to be repaired. But we have not got money for this,” she said. She claimed that 525 road projects were not taken up for various reasons.
“Crops on 9,000 acres were lost in the floods in Khanapur. But farmers are getting only ₹2,720 per acre. This is insufficient. Farmers spend up to ₹15,000 per acre for growing crops like rice. Compared to this, the compensation is very small. The State Government should pay compensation to farmers, over and above the NDRF norms,” she demanded.
“There are no proper roads in the taluk. Most villages are inaccessible. Though the children from these villages want to go to schools and colleges, they have no access to them due to lack of bus services. Khanapur town does not have a proper bus stand and depot. There is no toilet for women in the bus stand,” she said.
“Khanapur is part of the Uttara Kannada parliamentary constituency. But Anant Kumar Hegde, MP and BJP leader, does not visit the constituency. In fact, he has not visited the taluk even once after getting elected. Development projects are few and implemented slowly,” she complained.
The padayatra will start from Khanapur in the afternoon of December 12 and will reach Suvarna Soudha by the morning of 13th.
