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Friday, March 29

Bengre residents stall work on compound wall for golf course

Bengre residents stall work on compound wall for golf course


Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, June 30, 2015: Over a hundred residents of Bengre, mainly women, on Monday stalled construction of a compound wall around the proposed golf course and luxury resort project in the locality.

The residents have been protesting against the project on the ground that it would affect the fishermen community in Bengre and surrounding areas.

Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) leader B.K. Imtiyaz, who led the protest, told The Hindu that several workers commenced work on the wall as part of the project.

If the compound wall is constructed around the 135-acre project site, it would obstruct fishermen’s entry to the sea. He said that fishermen have always had an emotional bonding with the sea and they undertake fishing at the Tannirbhavi-Bengre beach during the monsoon.

Mr. Imtiyaz pointed out that the protection wall would prevent fishermen of the region from venturing into the sea.

People who have been “living with the sea for years” are now being deprived of their livelihood in the name of promotion of tourism, he regretted. For that matter, Bengre is a beautiful village sandwiched between the Phalguni (Gurupura) and the Arabina Sea, he said.

‘It is for a resort’

Mr. Imtiyaz said that the project, conceived during 2005 when Yogish Bhat was the MLA from the region, was carried forward by successive dispensations. It is not for a golf course, as the one existing near Pilikula is lacking patronage.

Some influential people have eyed the vast extent of uninhabited land in the locality to build a resort, which is in violation of the Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ) norms, he alleged.

As rules do not allow a mere construction of a resort in the CRZ area, the administration, in collusion with private people, has named the project as golf course-cum-resort project.

The government has, through the Tourism Department, leased out 135 acres of land at Tannirbhavi village to Opus Laguna Golf and Resorts Pvt. Ltd. to build the golf course as well as a 150-room luxury resort. The company has taken possession of land and is in the process of building the protection wall abutting the sea shore, he said.

FIR filed

Meanwhile, the Panambur Police have registered a case of unlawful assembly, assault and attempt to murder against unnamed activists in connection with the incident. The first information report was filed by Harish Kotian, a contractor engaged by Opus Laguna Resorts, stating that workers employed by him were prevented by the protesters from undertaking the civil work, the police said.

 

Courtesy: The hindu


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