Udupi dist minister responsible for scarcity of sand : Raghupathi Bhat

Udupi dist minister responsible for scarcity of sand : Raghupathi Bhat

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Oct 18,2016: Speaking to media on Oct 17, Monday, former MLA Raghupathy Bhat accused District In-charge Minister Pramod Madhwaraj for responsible for artificial scarcity of sand in the district.He said the acute shortage of sand in the district in the past four to five months has affected drastically the developmental activities in the district and has also made the labour class struggle for livelihood. The minister is reckless and has been simply blaming others for his failures. He cannot handle the problems, Bhat charged.

He said the man who has approached the Green Tribunal in Chennai over the irregularities in the sand mining activities is the permanent employee in the fish meal industry owned by the district in-charge minister. The minister should have spoken to Uday Suvarna and convinced him to withdraw the petition, Bhat said.

The increasing sand mafia has created a vacuum, where the construction labourers have stopped working and the construction of houses under various housing schemes has been massively affected. The sand is also being illegally transported to the neighbouring district, he added.

He said the artificial scarcity of sand has been created by the minister himself. The new sand policy is totally unscientific. Even after three-and-a-half years in power, the Congress government has failed to formulate separate sand policy to the coastal districts, he charged.

Bhat threatened that the BJP members would take law into their hands and involve in sand extraction if the minister fails to sort out the problem by this month-end. The sand would be extracted through traditional mining.  The minister has also failed to provide kerosene, which is offered at subsidised rates, to 13,000 country crafts, Bhat charged.  The subsidised kerosene has not been supplied for the last two months. The DC is also not responding to the grievancess. More than 2,000 to 3,000 families involved in the country craft fishing activities, he stated.

Heavily coming down upon the minister for his remarks on Rama, Krishna and Valmiki as non-vegetarians, he said the minister, who is in a responsible position, should maintain the decorum of his position.  Talking nonsense and creating controversies do not go well with his political and administrative stature. The minister should utter similar remarks against the gods of other religions. Why does he have to criticise only Hindu gods and why not other religious divine powers? he asked.

Bhat questioned how the minister is sure about the food habits followed by Rama and Krishna. Was he present when the Lords existed?" he questioned.  He should stop issuing such irresponsible statements, he added.

Probe : Bhat also demanded a thorough enquiry into the suicide of Chaitra Poojary, who ended her life recently by jumping into Swarna River at Santhekatte. The accused should be charged under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act) as the victim was a minor. The case should be investigated by an IPS cadre officer, he demanded.

’Ridiculous claim’ : He also termed the ’Udupi Chalo’ activists’ claim of laying siege to the Sri Krishna temple as "ridiculous."  Slamming the activists, he said they would not be allowed to enter the town itself, forget the temple. He added that the Maoists who live outside the forest are into all these senseless activities and deeds.