Waste residues bury farmers fertile lands

Waste residues bury farmers fertile lands

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, May 19, 2015: Though lakhs of people in Port City of Mangaluru get pure drinking water from River Nethravathi after it is purified at Ramalkatte facility, near Thumbe, the waste and slush is let into open drain.

It is matter to be concerned about that  Mangaluru urban residents get water filtered river water, the muddy dirty residue after filtration is pressed into open drains. This unpleasant residue results flowing into farmers lands in the vicinity. Farmers have claim loss of  more than 1,200 arecanut trees, more than 150 coconut trees, banana plantation, paddy fields and a fresh water pond,  incurring a loss of over Rs 50 lakh over the years.   Complaints to many authorities concerned, from the Gram Panchayat to Revenue department as well as the Assistant Commissioner have got no results.   There is an average of five to 10 feet silt / slush similar to ’sinking sand’ in plantations and nobody dares to step into the field, as they will be buried alive.

Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha district President Sridhar Shetty and Secretary Manohar Shetty who too visited the spot, squarely blamed both Thumbe Gram Panchayat as well Mangaluru City Corporation for the plight of the farmer. While the affected area comes under Thumbe GP, the clean water is supplied to MCC while the waste is let into open fields.   Horticulture Department official Sanjeev Naik too visited the spot and assured to submit a report in this regard to the Taluk Panchayat as well as Zilla Panchayat officials.

KRRS District Secretary Manohar Shetty also said that if the authorities concerned do not take steps to compensate the affected farmers, the KRRS will decide the future course of action including laying siege to pumping station at Ramalkatte.