Udupi-Chikkamagaluru LS seat: Villagers in Banakal hobli threaten to boycott polls

coastaldigest.com web desk
March 19, 2019

Mudigere, Mar 19: People from a remote village in Banakal hobli of Mudigere taluk which falls under Udupi-Chikkamagaluru Lok Sabha constituency, have decided to boycott the general elections as their long-pending demands for basic amenities have not been met.

The residents of Chegu near Banakal town have put up a banner disclosing their plan to attract the attention of the district administration. The villagers have been demanding road connectivity to Banakal.

“The village comes under Banakal Gram Panchayat. The road to the village has not been asphalted for the last two decades. The road is filled with potholes, inconveniencing the vehicle users. There are no buses connecting the village. We have to depend on private vehicles to reach the main road. With the pothole-filled road, even private vehicles refuse to ferry passengers to the village,” complained the villagers.

In the absence of a pucca road, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation does not offer services to the village, forcing the residents and schoolchildren to depend on private vehicles for commute. Around 50 schoolchildren travel by private autorickshaws or vans daily to reach their school in Banakal.

The village, which has 65 or so houses, has a government lower primary school. The children have to travel to Banakal for higher primary education. “All our children travel on this bad stretch of road by autorickshaws as there are no bus services,” said Jagadish, a resident of Chegu who works as a tailor in Banakal.

Besides, the villagers have complained to the authorities about inadequate supply of drinking water. They have been fetching water from a nearby stream, but they want a permanent facility. “The quantity of water available is insufficient. The quality is also poor,” said Harish, who plies an autorickshaw.

Meanwhile, panchayat officials have taken note of the villagers’ protest. Banakal Gram Panchayat development officer S.K. Chandravathi said that she would submit a report on the matter to the district administration.

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News Network
March 18,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 18: In the backdrop of the breakdown of the COVID-19 virus across the state, the ongoing Budget session of the Karnataka Assembly, which is scheduled to end of this month, is likely to be cut short by one week.

According to official sources, the state government, which had shut down all the congregating places including Malls, Theatres, Marriage Halls and banned all the public functions, is in favor of the cutting short the ongoing Assembly session, to give focus on keeping a tab on the COVID-19 disease.

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coastaldigest.com news network
June 2,2020

Kasaragod, June 2: As Kerala commenced fresh academic year with online classes from Monday, a ninth-standard student at Malappuram district in North Kerala ended life allegedly owing to lack of online study facilities like television connection and a smartphone at her house.

Devika, daughter of Balakrishnan, hailing from a Dalit community at Valancherry, about 25 kilometres from Malappuram town, ended her life.

Balakrishnan told the media that he could not recharge the television connection owing to financial crunches. He was working as a daily wage worker and owing to COVID-19 and lockdown, he was not having much work these days. 

The family also did not have a smartphone or computer. The family members alleged that Devika was quite upset as she could not attend the virtual class that began on Monday. She was a student of a nearby government school.

Local police said that Devika, who was the eldest among four children of Balakrishnan, was suspected to have self-immolated using kerosene at a premise close to her house on Monday evening. The cause and provocations were still being probed only. No suicide notes were recovered yet.

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News Network
March 28,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 28: Karnataka has reported 10 new positive cases of COVID-19 between 5 pm yesterday and 8 am today, taking the tally to 74 in the state.

"Ten new COVID-19 cases have been reported between 5 pm yesterday and 8 am today, taking the total number to 74 in Karnataka, which includes three deaths and five cured/discharged persons," said the State Health Department on Saturday.

The total number of active COVID-19 cases in the country has climbed to 873, including 78 cured, discharged and migrated cases and 19 deaths, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Saturday.

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