Daijiworld Media Network – Karkala (SP)
Karkala, Mar 18: To coax the people of the town to set aside their lands located by the sides of the main road for road widening, the need for which is being strongly felt since the last some years, Udupi district deputy commissioner (DC), Hemalata P, walked by foot through the main road on Thursday March 17. The Padayatra, which started at 2 pm at Anantashayana in the town, culminated at Salmara mosque at around 6.30 pm.
During this campaign, Hemalata personally asked the residents and shopkeepers to vacate their land and buildings adjacent to the road. She also examined the marking of buildings for demolition, done for the purpose by the officials. The DC, who was on fast as it happened to be Thursday, consumed some water in between, but remained enthusiastic. While a number of people followed her entourage out of curiosity, many people had lined up on both the sides of the road to have a look at their deputy commissioner and the way she tries to convince the people.
Because of the large number of people who gathered for the purpose, traffic was affected frequently on the main road. District planning officer, Krishna Hebsoor, tahsildar, Jagannath Rao, municipal president, Pratima Mohan, vice-president, Prema, chief officer, Gopalakrishna, and other officials accompanied the DC, and provided her feedback as and when found necessary.
Speaking to journalists after the conclusion of her campaign, the DC said that her Padyatra has yielded fruits, as most of the people have agreed to voluntarily set aside their properties for road widening. While saying that it will not be possible to extend the deadline for the purpose, she said that those who have apprehended danger to the building if they go back by seven feet have been told that the safety of their buildings will be assessed, and compensation will be paid if their claims are found to be true. However, only those who have not encroached upon the municipal land, and give away seven feet of land for road widening before March 25 will be eligible for the same, she clarified.