District administration to remove illegal religious structures in DK

October 18, 2014

Mangalore, Oct 18: The Dakshina Kannada district administration has chalked a strategy to ensure that there was no growth in illegal religious structures built illegally on government land.

During a district-level meeting held on Thursday, Deputy commissioner A B Ibrahim directed the tahsildars and nodal officers to take up the initiative to ensure that government property is reclaimed by the district administration through demolitions and social boycotts.

According to official data, close to 1,600 major and minor religious structures have been identified as structures built illegally on government land in the district. While minor structures such as donation boxes on the sides of roads had been removed, the district officials explained that major structures such as small mosques, temples and prayer halls were difficult to demolish.

Hence, the district administration has drawn a strategy which will include social boycotting along with demolitions to claim back the encroached government land.

Speaking to Coastaldigest.com, Mr Ibrahim said that the illegal structures built on government land would be first identified and marked as illegal so as to discourage people from frequenting the places and secondly the persons in-charge would be directed to remove the structures voluntarily.

The government officials have been instructed not to attend programmes or functions organised by the persons responsible for the illegal structures. Further, an awareness campaign should be launched to make people aware of the illegality of setting up structures on government land without permission, he said.

He said that another meeting would be called shortly to discuss further on reclaiming government land.

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QR-code tips power Mangaluru's major drug bust: 25 arrested in 2 weeks

News Network

December 16,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 16: The Mangaluru City police have significantly escalated their campaign against drug trafficking, arresting 25 individuals and booking 12 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act between November 30 and December 13. The crackdown resulted in the seizure of a substantial quantity of illicit substances, including 685.6 grams of MDMA and 1.5 kg of ganja.

The success of this recent drive has been significantly boosted by the city’s innovative, QR code-based anonymous reporting system.

"The anonymous reporting system has received an encouraging response. Several recent arrests were made based on inputs received through this system, helping police tighten the noose around drug peddlers," said the City Police Commissioner.

The latest arrests contribute to a robust year-to-date record, underscoring the police's relentless commitment to combating the drug menace.

Up to December 14 this year, the police have registered a total of 107 cases of drug peddling, leading to the arrest of 219 peddlers. Furthermore, they have booked 562 cases of drug consumption, resulting in the arrest of 671 individuals.

The scale of the seizure for the year reflects the magnitude of the problem being tackled: police have seized 320.6 kg of ganja worth ₹88.7 lakh and 1.4 kg of MDMA valued at ₹1.2 crore. Other significant seizures include hydro-weed ganja worth ₹94.7 lakh and cocaine worth ₹1.9 lakh, among others.

The Commissioner emphasized a policy of rigorous enforcement: "We ensure that peddlers are caught red-handed so that they cannot later dispute the case or claim innocence."

To counter the rising trend of substance abuse among youth, the Mangaluru City police have rolled out uniform guidelines for random drug testing across educational institutions.

As part of the drive, tests were conducted in approximately 100 institutions, screening an estimated 5,500 to 6,000 students in the first phase. 20 students tested positive for drug consumption during the initial screening.

Students who tested positive have been provided counselling and are scheduled for re-testing in the second quarter. The testing will also be expanded to students not covered in the first phase. In a move to ensure strict implementation, police personnel were deployed in mufti in some institutions. Reiterating a zero-tolerance stance, the Commissioner confirmed that random testing will continue, and colleges have also been instructed to conduct drug tests at the time of admission to deter substance abuse from an early stage.

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