After losing 2-acre land Sullia man spends 15 years in his car in dense forest

[email protected] (CD Network)
January 29, 2016

Mangaluru, Jan 29: A 43-year-old farmer, who spent nearly one-and-a-half decades in a dense forest near Sullia in Dakshina Kannada district after losing his two-acres of land in 2002 due to nonpayment of loans, finally got a new lease of life when Deputy Commissioner AB Ibrahim assured him to provide at least one acre of land.

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Around 15 years ago, Chandrashekar Gowda entered a forest more than 20 kilo metres away from Sullia and parked his car there. He led the life like an aborigine and spent nights in the same car converting it into an abode.

When Mr Ibrahim came to know the helpless Gowda’s story through a Kannada news channel, he invited him to the DC’s office on Thursday and listened to his tale woes. Mr Ibrahim also invited psychiatrist Ravish Thunga, social activist Hilda Rayappan, Superintendent of Police S.D. Sharanappa and representatives from cooperative society that had given him loan for an hour-long meeting with him.

Mr. Gowda had taken a short-term loan and two crop loans totalling to Rs. 50,400 from Nelluru Kemraje Cooperative Society in 1999. Failure to return the amount made the Society initiate proceedings for auctioning his two acres land. The land was auctioned for Rs 1.2 lakh in October 2002. After deducting the amount that was due, the society has kept in the suspense account Rs. 11,000 that Mr. Gowda has still not taken.

When asked as to why he was living an arduous life in the forest, Mr. Gowda said, “I lost my house and land. There is no other abode.” Mr. Gowda said he had spent sleepless nights in the forest amid elephants and other wild animals.

He then takes names of some persons in his village and accuses them of not giving money he had sought for repayment of loan. “If I had got that cheque of Rs. 50,000, I would have repaid.” He sticks to this even while Dr. Thunga and Ms. Rayappan ask him to state facts clearly.

Mr. Ibrahim’s statement of pursuing Mr. Gowda’s application for regularisation of one-acre land adjoining the two-acre, which he had lost, brings smile on him.

“I want you to do it for me,” Mr Gowda tells Mr. Ibrahim. But he does not agree to Mr. Ibrahim’s offer to stay in Mangaluru and earn living by working at Pilikula Nisargadhama from his baskets.

After the meeting, Dr. Thunga said Mr. Gowda had an odd behaviour and he recommended some psychiatric tests. The Government Wenlock Hospital Superintendent H. Rajeshwari Devi was directed to arrange for the tests. Mr. Ibrahim said it would be the responsibility of district administration to take care of Mr. Gowda and ensure him safe place of living.

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Comments

Brother
 - 
Saturday, 30 Jan 2016

Dont go near bank LOans ... A trap laid to make you a SLAVE of the corporates & bankers. Say thanks to whatever U have by the blessing of God.

AP Umar Musliyar
 - 
Friday, 29 Jan 2016

good work DC, really appreciable two acre for 50000, bank authority should be put in behind the bars.

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coastaldigest.com news network
July 18,2020

Mangaluru, July 18: The Dakshina Kannada district administration is likely to earmark a common burial ground in the wake of growing resistance from residents of various localities in Mangaluru against burial of Covid-19 victims in their vicinity.

Recently, following protests by residents on Bolar, the body of a Covid-19 victim remained in the ambulance for hours together. The residents refused to allow the victim to be laid to rest at a burial ground attached to a mosque. The victim, who had been a resident of Idya in Surathkal, was subsequently laid to rest after DC’s intervention.

In a bid to avoid such instances in the future, the district administration has identified a burial ground on the outskirts of Mangaluru. 

Former minister and incumbent Mangaluru MLA UT Khader said that he had discussed the problem at length with the officials of the Dakshina Kannada district administration, and had suggested they look for a relatively isolated space on the outskirts of Mangaluru city in order to avoid confrontation with the public.

“A parcel of land at Badaga Yekkuru, some 20km from the city has been identified as being suitable for the burial ground, but the district administration is yet to take a final decision,” Khader said.

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News Network
May 23,2020

Bengaluru, May 23: It was a stampede-like situation near Palace Grounds in Bengaluru on Saturday afternoon. The incident took place after hundreds of migrants gathered and jostled to gain entry. The situation raises concerns as no social distancing norms were followed.

According to Chetan Singh Rathore, DCP Central, the reason behind the stampede-like situation was an en masse message. "What we heard was that an en masse message has been conveyed to the people of Manipur and Odisha that they would be able to go home on trains on Saturday. The message did not consider the capacity of the train which is only 1500 seating capacity for Manipur train and 1500 for Odisha train," he told media.

Singh further added, "But the people gathered were around 3000 in number for the Manipur train and 5000 for the Odisha train. Passengers with tickets and requisites were allowed to travel while others were asked to return home and wait for their turn to travel back home."

The state of Karnataka has eased lockdown restrictions across, allowing state transport services to run. Lately, the government has been running special Shramik trains from Karnataka to ferry migrant workers back to their hometowns.

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News Network
May 28,2020

Bengaluru, May 28: In a first of its kind initiative, the Karnataka government will soon launch 'Statewide Health Register', a project to maintain the health database of all its citizens, announced Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Wednesday.

The project will kick start from Chikkaballapura and Dakshina Kannada districts.

"With a vision to efficiently deliver quality healthcare to every citizen, Karnataka will soon have a Statewide Health Register. The pilot project will be implemented in Chikkaballapura & Dakshina Kannada dist shortly and completed in 3-4 months. @CMofKarnataka @PMOIndia @JPNadda," tweeted the Minister.

The government plans to get the data collected with the help of a team of Primary Health Centre (PHC) officials, revenue officials, Education Department staff and ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activist) workers.

"They will visit each household and collect health data of all the members of the family. This will not just help the government to provide better health care facilities, but also build an efficient resource allocation, management and better implementation of various citizen-centric schemes in the state," the minister added.

Sudhakar also said that the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the necessity of having a robust, real-time public health system.

"Very few countries in the world have taken such an initiative. It is a futuristic project which will include 50 per cent partnership of private hospitals. It would be a cumbersome process but if we do this and digitise it, the data could be used for multiple purposes. The data would help us prioritise healthcare based on geography, demography, and other targeted measures. It would also help medical professionals and scientists for innumerable studies," he said.

"We have consulted all specialists from 18 different departments, and taken their advice into account," said the minister.

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