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New Indian Express
01-06-2025
- New Indian Express
Injured woman's brother blames officials for Mangaluru landslide tragedy
Teju stated in the complaint, 'Following heavy rain, a portion of the hill collapsed on the house of my brother-in-law Seetharam at 3.30 am on Friday. Seetharam's father Kanthappa Poojary suffered a fracture in his leg, while my sister's children and my brother-in-law's mother died. Seetharam is devastated by the tragedy. Three lives were lost because of the unscientific road work taken up by the officials on the hill above the house.' He blamed Manjanady Gram Panchayat PDO Chaitra, KRIDL officials and engineers, and contractors of the ZP for taking up 'negligent and unscientific work on the hill'. He alleged that the PDO and KRIDL officials were aware of the possibility of a mishap, but still carried out the work. 'They must be booked under Sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 106 (death by negligence) of BNS ,' he stated in the petition to the police. Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy told TNSE that a case of unnatural death has already been registered by the Konaje police regarding the incident. 'The police have received a petition from Teju Kumar. If any evidence is found in support of the contents of the petition, relevant law will be applied and action will be taken accordingly,' Reddy said.
The Hindu
29-04-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
60 hi-tech community toilets for women to come up in Bidar district of Karnataka
To provide safe and hygienic sanitation access for those without individual household toilets in rural areas, the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited (KRIDL) is set to establish hi-tech community toilets exclusively for women in 60 villages across Bidar district. One such model hi-tech toilet has been built at Chatnalli village in Bidar taluk. Each community toilet unit comprises 11 washrooms — 10 Indian-style and one Western-style toilets — the latter designated for individuals with disabilities. The government of Karnataka has allocated ₹25 lakh for constructing each hi-tech community toilet unit. The district has approved 60 such hi-tech women's community toilets — 16 units in Bhalki taluk, 13 in Basavakalyan, 10 in Bidar taluk, 7 in Kamalanagar, 6 in Humnabad, 4 in Chitguppa, and 2 each at Aurad and Hulsur taluks, said Dr. Girish Badole, Chief Executive Officer of Bidar zilla panchayat . This modern and scientifically designed women's community toilet features a waste conversion system for fertiliser production. It is equipped with a water supply and electricity facility. An inverter system has been installed to ensure the safe and convenient use of toilets even at night. The hi-tech toilet unit has got two wash basins. Two laundry platforms have been constructed outside the toilet for washing clothes. The toilet spans 600 square feet in a prime location, relatively safer and easily reachable by women. The unit will soon be handed over to the gram panchayat and thrown open for public use, said Abhishek Pola, In-charge Engineer at KRIDL. Community public toilets in rural areas can directly help reduce risks of snakebite deaths and drowning. Citing an example of a recent death of a girl at Mannalli village due to snakebite, Taluk Panchayat Executive Officer Kiran Patil said the risk of encountering snakes or drowning can be decreased by promoting better sanitation and discouraging open defecation. In addition, such sanitation facilities can improve hygiene and health. 'The community toilets in rural areas often fail to be used effectively due to lack of water facilities, but the hi-tech community toilets will have adequate water supply through connections drawn under Jal Jeevan Mission,' Mr. Patil added. Besides establishing hi-tech community toilets, the zilla panchayat is organising awareness about the importance of using community toilets among villagers through Information, Education and Communication (IEC) activities, says IEC coordinator Satyajeet Nidodakar. People in rural areas are showing interest in constructing individual toilet facilities under Swachh Bharat Mission. As of now, the zilla panchayat has received 9,412 applications for individual toilets, of which 6,778 got approved while the rest are under process, he said.
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Time of India
Crumbled CC road asphalted, then cemented again; Rs 3cr misuse alleged
1 2 Sindhanur (Raichur): KRIDL officials, who faced consequences for poor-quality road work near the Tungabhadra Left Bank canal in Ganganagar, repeated their previous mistakes, resulting in public dissatisfaction. The project in question involved the construction of a Cement concrete road (CC road), approved by the irrigation department under the SCP/TSP scheme for 2021-22. An allocation of Rs 3 crore was made to create a 2 km-long CC road next to the 40th sub-canal, with Rs 2 crore allotted for the road and Rs 1 crore for the drainage construction. In 2023, KRIDL completed construction of 1 km of CC road work, extending from the Gangavathi main road, while the remaining section remained pending due to land encroachment issues. However, the 1 km CC road started deteriorating within months as a result of poor quality. Veerabhadrappa Vishwakarma, a resident of Ward 14, remarked, "To hide this error, KRIDL engineers hurriedly applied asphalt over the cement road. Asphalt does not stick well to CC surfaces and will eventually peel off." On Nov 24, 2023, KRIDL chief engineer Rajanna visited Sindhanur after learning about the asphalt application on the CC road. During his inspection, he was taken aback to find that the asphalt had been applied unscientifically. His team's report claimed that the work was executed poorly and lacked scientific methodology, suggesting that funds were misappropriated through fraudulent accounting. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like People Aged 50-85 With No Life Insurance Could Get This Reassured Get Quote Undo Following the findings of the report, AEE Anil Kumar K Gokhale, who oversaw the project, was interrogated and subsequently suspended on Dec 2, 2023. "Nevertheless, due to political pressure, Gokhale was reinstated within a few months," said local resident Mallikarjun Dinni. To hide the previous errors, there are allegations that Rs 1 crore from the outstanding Rs 2 crore grant was misused for laying cement concrete over the asphalted road. Mallikarjun Dinni expressed disappointment that KRIDL repeated its past mistakes by applying tar over the CC road. This resulted in a waste of Rs 1 crore for the tar application. With half of the road still unfinished, Rs 2 crore of the total Rs 3 crore project budget was wasted. However, AE Anil Kumar K Gokhale remarked, "We need to address the encroachment issue before we can continue with the construction of the remaining section of the road." He added that only the length of the road that can be completed with the remaining funds will be constructed. When questioned about the lack of scientific standards in the road's construction and its subpar quality, AE Anil Kumar Gokhale chose not to answer. He merely stated that the KRIDL team has been directed to ensure that the road is built adhereing to a high standard. In a similar vein, AEE Mohammad Sohai, responsible for the ongoing road work, declined to comment. There are escalating concerns regarding the potential misappropriation of Rs 3 crore, particularly since the suspended official has returned and is still managing the problematic project.
