Govt. has released ₹5 crore each to three coastal districts to prevent sea erosion: Minister

Lakshmi R. Hebbalkar, Minister in-charge of Udupi district and Minister for Women and Child Development, Disabled, and Senior Citizens Empowerment said on Wednesday that the government has released ₹5 crore each to Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada districts to take up measures to prevent sea erosion.

Lakshmi R. Hebbalkar, Minister in-charge of Udupi district and Minister for Women and Child Development, Disabled, and Senior Citizens Empowerment said on Wednesday that the government has released ₹5 crore each to Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada districts to take up measures to prevent sea erosion.

Speaking to presspersons in Udupi, she said that the Centre too should join hands with the State government in taking up projects for preventing sea erosion. The Minister said that she is aware of the district facing dearth of government bus services. The government has purchased 3,000 buses and efforts will be made to introduce some of those buses in the district. Earlier, she held a meeting to review the preparations made in the district to face monsoon.

Ms. Hebbalkar said that three persons died due to lightning in the district recently. The IMD has alerted that the district is likely to witness high rainfall in the coming days. Hence, the district administration should take all precautionary measures to protect people and properties from flood.

The rural and urban local bodies should ensure that storm water drains are kept in proper condition by desilting, she said instructing the Chief Executive Officer of Udupi Zilla Panchayat Prateek Bayal to review the steps taken by the gram panchayats.

She instructed the Forest Department to remove dangerous roadside trees posing threat to the life of people. The drinking water being supplied to people by local bodies should be tested periodically to ensure that there was no contamination due to mixing of dirty water.

The Agriculture Department should make efforts to get MO 4 variety of paddy seeds from other districts as there is demand for the particular variety of paddy seeds, she said.

The Minister congratulated the district officials of the Department of School Education and Literacy for bagging first rank in the Class 10 examination in the State this year. She said that 143 schools in the district have recorded 100% result in the examination.