Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Nov 3: With the aim of clearing bottlenecks that have come in the way of extracting sand from areas falling under Coastal Regulatory Zone in the district, MLA, K Raghupati Bhat, and former minister, Jayaprakash Hegde, held meaningful talks with Ritesh Kumar Singh, joint secretary in the union department of forest and environment at New Delhi on Friday November 2.
It is gathered that Ritesh was positive in the matter of helping the locals to get sand. He expressed the view that there is no strict rule that contracts in this respect should be allotted to only those contractors who were extracting sand before the year 2011. He said that people who have entered this field even thereafter can be considered.
Bhat said that the official also told him that state government's principal secretary in the department of mines, Rajendra Kataria, had kept him abreast of the sand problem affecting people of Udupi district and also about the protest held there.
"We have now held preliminary level talks. Next week we will personally meet union minister for environment, Dr Harshavardhan, and have discussions with him. I have no doubt about getting positive outcome from these efforts," he narrated.