Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Two Parties Join To Form A Committee In The Interest Of The Village

News Coutesy: Deccan Chronicle

May 2: If every political party worker in Karnataka has taken gram panchayat election as a prestige issue, here’s one place in Udupi district where workers from two political parties have shed their differences to form a committee in the interest of the village.

Shedding their differences, workers of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress in Udyavar have joined hands to form the Grama Samrakshana Samithi and work for the development of the village.

With 29 members, Udyavar Gram Panchayat is the third biggest gram panchayat in the region and has been a bastion of the Congress.

However, things are likely to change this time as strongmen in the panchayat belonging to the Congress and BJP have come together to contest the polls under the banner of “Grama Samrakshana Samithi,” or Village Protection Committee. The committee has fielded 28 candidates, including president of Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee, Udupi, Vijay Kumar (Bharatiya Janata Party), and former taluk panchayat member Bhaskar Kotian (Congress).

“Our main intention is development of the village and to keep it away from harmful and pollutant industries like fish mills. Three fish mills were set up in our village recently despite strong opposition from us. None of the elected representatives came to listen to our problem and fight for our cause. Thus, we have formed a committee for the protection of our village and will contest elections,” Mr Vijay Kumar told Deccan Chronicle.

“There has been no development in our village. Thus, we formed a committee and fielded candidates who will work for the welfare of the village. We hope to win atleast 20 seats out of 28 we are contesting,” he said. Members of the committee admitted that they endured opposition from their party.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Pollution By Fish Mills Is The Main Issue In Gram Panchayat Elections

Udyavar has been a Congress bastion - It has been winning here for the last 30 years

Ganesh Prabhu
News Courtesy : The Hindu
Pollution caused by three fishmeal companies is a major issue.  There are 29 seats in the Udayavar Gram Panchayat
--------------------------------

Udyavar (Udupi District): The pollution caused by three fishmeal companies is the major issue in the elections to the Udyavar Gram Panchayat here.



Udyavar village was in news when violence erupted on February 20 against the laying of pipelines for discharge of effluents into the Arabian Sea, leading to clamping of prohibitory orders.



Hitherto, only candidates supported by the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party were contesting the elections.



The pollution issue has changed the nature of elections. Now, a third non-political outfit namely, Grama Samarakshana Samiti, has come into existence.



This gram panchayat has 8,259 voters, comprising 4,446 women and 3,813 men. It has 29 seats. Congress-backed Candidates have been winning here for the last 30 years.



Leader of the samiti Vijaykumar Udyavar said that the major demand of his organisation was making the three fishmeal companies install effluent treatment plant (ETP) and smell treatment chamber, immediately. The ETP would lead to treated effluents being released into the water.



Release of effluents into the sea was creating pollution. The foul smell emanating from the fishmeal companies could be controlled by the Smell Treatment Chamber, Mr. Udyavar said.



Quick response



Congress leader Udyavar Manjunath said the gram panchayat had dealt with the pollution crisis quickly by withdrawing permission. But the three companies had obtained a court stay, he said.



Deputy Commissioner P. Hemalatha said the companies had submitted a proposal to Karnataka State Pollution Control Board for upgrading the ETP. As a result, they had been allowed to function in the present state till July 3. But the KPSCB had given them a deadline till the end of monsoon for upgrading the ETP, she said.



Public opinion



Raghu, an autorickshaw driver, said the pollution caused by the fishmeal plants was causing health problems to the people.



The smell emanating from the fishmeal plants at night was unbearable. The gram panchayat had not done much about it, he said.



Sharada, a fisherwoman, said that the fair price depots in the village were cheating the people. Rice at subsidised rate was not being offered to the below the poverty line (BPL) card-holders in these depots. “We have to buy rice at Rs. 20 a kg. The pollution has adversely affected fish catch,” she said.



Padma, another fisherwoman, agreed that the fish catch had gone down. Ramesh, an farm worker, alleged that the fair price depots charged higher price for subsidised Kerosene. “We are ignorant of Government schemes for the welfare of poor people”, he said.



Jalaja Poojarti, a resident, said there was no cleanliness in the village. People were dumping garbage in the drains or on roadside. This was choking the storm-water drains, she said.



HDI



Udyavar is in seventh place in the taluk in the human development index (HDI) chart as per the District Human Development Report 2008. The population of Udyavar Gram Panchayat is 11,386. Of them, 5,984 are women and 5,402 men). This panchayat has 500 people belonging to Scheduled Castes and 45 belonging to Scheduled Tribes.