Palemar accused of stopping anti-sea erosion project, changing blue print of ring road

August 8, 2011

Mangalore, August 8: Former MLA K Vijaykumar Shetty has accused Dakshina Kannada District-in-charge Minister Krishna J Palemar of stopping the Geotextile Membrane project aimed to counter the sea erosion across the Ullal coast.

Addressing the media-persons at the District Congress office here on Monday, he said that Palemar had prevented this project owing to a “conflict of interest”.

Pointing out that both Mangalore M P Nalin Kumar Kateel and MLA U T Khader had written to the director of Asian Development Bank (ADB) to pursue the project, he said the project was vital to save more than 300 houses located very close to the sea.

“This move by the District in-charge Minister will cause trouble to the district and its residents. We request him not to stop the project”, he said.

“ADB has sanctioned a loan for the Geotextile Membrane project. A similar project has stopped sea erosion in the coast of Kovalam, Kerala. This project is a golden opportunity to reduce sea erosion along our coasts”, he opined.

Referring to the Mangala Corniche (Ring Road) Mr Shetty said that Palemar is misusing his power by changing the blueprint of the project to meet his personal ends.

“The plan of the ring road has been changed to go through an area where Mr Palemar has bought a land for a very low price”, he said adding that the original plan is facing a threat due to the “greed” of this District-in-charge Minister.

Mr Shetty also alleged that Palemar was plotting to achieve financial benefits by altering the plan which would destroy the very purpose of the road.

Referring to the mining scam of Belekeri, he said that all newspapers had published a report stating the involvement of Palemar in this scandal. But, strangely the name of Palemar is not mentioned in the recently released Lokayukta report. It raises a few doubts, he said.

However Mr Shetty clarified that his party stands by the report of Lokayukta.

Mangalore MLA U T Khader, MCC Opposition Leader Lancelot Pinto, Former Mayor Ashraf were present among others.

Comments

Add new comment

Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.

Mangaluru Airport turns political stage: Congress workers chant for DKS as Venugopal arrives

News Network

December 3,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 3: A group of Congress workers gathered at the Mangaluru International Airport on Wednesday to welcome AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, but the reception quickly turned into a display of support for Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.

Venugopal arrived in the city to participate in the centenary commemoration of the historic dialogue between Mahatma Gandhi and Narayana Guru. The event, organised by the Sivagiri Mutt, Varkala, in association with the Mangalore University Sri Narayana Guru Study Chair, is being held on the university’s Konaje campus.

KPCC general secretary Mithun Rai and several party workers had assembled at the airport to receive Venugopal. However, the moment he stepped out, workers began raising slogans backing Shivakumar.

The university programme will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

This show of support comes just a day after Siddaramaiah remarked that Shivakumar would lead the government “when the high command decides.” The chief minister made the comment after a breakfast meeting at Shivakumar’s residence—another public display of camaraderie between the two leaders amid ongoing attempts by the party high command to downplay their leadership rivalry.

Comments