Pics: Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (DV)

Mangalore, Jul 5: Udupi-Chikmagalur MP Shobha Karandlaje on Saturday July 5 said that a 40-member committee has been formed for the development of the two districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi.

Announcing this at a press meet at the BJP office here, Shobha said that the committee will study the problems of the two districts with the help of experts and by collecting opinions of the people, and find appropriate solutions while emphasiing on development.

"The problems faced by both the districts are the same, be it with fisheries, arecanut or the Western Ghats. Hence a team has been formed to study both the districts. This is the preliminary stage, and after two months they will submit a report based on which decisions will be taken. They will also study aspects like education and problems concerning basic amenities," she said.

"There are already issues related to implementation of Kasturirangan and Gadgil reports. We have to strike a balance between environment and people's livelihood. While conserving the environment we cannot snatch away people's lives, hence we need to consider both these aspects," she added.

"BJP district president Prathap Simha, Yeddyurappa and Ananth Kumar met union environment minister Prakash Javadekar and asked him to take decision on these two reports only after taking the opinions of poeple at the village level and of experts into consideration. His response was positive," Shobha said.

"The Supreme Court will announce its verdict on the issue of arecanut ban on July 14 and 16. If arecanut is banned, people of three districts will be affected. It's a question of their livelihood. People cannot live without arecanut farming. A report will be sent to the Prime Minister to take a decision only after considering people's opinions.

"It is tobacco that should be banned. There is no harmful substance in areca. We will also meet union health minister Dr Harshvardhan and PM Narendra Modi in this regard," she added.

Referring to the problem of sea erosion, she said, "Sea erosion is a universal problem, which is prevalent in other coastal states as well. Placing old stones and collecting new bills - this practice has been repeating year after year. The central government will release Rs 60 crore to Rs 70 crore yearly to the state government, and the state has to take action to find a permanent solution for sea erosion. We have also discussed this issue with Modi."

She also added that she has consulted sea erosion expert Deepika Shetty in Udupi and asked her to make a presentation on the issue.

She further said that CRZ rules will be relaxed in Karnataka as in Goa and Kerala to boost fisheries sector. "There are 78 foreign fishing agencies. The government should support our indigenous agencies and not them," she said.

"In Mangalore we already have a fisheries college. Now we plan to start a fisheries university here," she added.

Moving on to other issues, Shobha said, "The highway work near Talapady which should have been completed last year is still pending. We have urged union minister for transport Nitin Gadkari to speed up the work, but as it is rainy season, it is difficult to start the work immediately. Gadkari has however directed the officials to start the work as soon as possible."

"MP Nalin Kumar Kateel and I have demanded a separate railway division for Mangalore in this budget. Also, there are many people in Mumbai and Pune who come to Mangalore, Kasargod and Udupi for work. A Garib Rath should be started to cater to their needs," Shobha said.

"Though we have an international airport, it is not of international standards. We plan to upgrade the airport too in the coming days," she added.

MP Nalin Kumar Kateel who was also present, said "After taking people's opinions and discussing with them issues related to basic facilities, we will urge the central government for permanent solutions to problems faced by the the undivided coastal district."

On this occasion BJP state vice-president Banu Prakash, BJP district president Prathap Simha Nayak, MLC Capt Ganesh Karnik, Kota Srinivas Poojary and others were present.