Laxmi Hebbalkar’s visit to flood-hit areas only a formality, says Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna

Criticising Udupi district in-charge Minister Laxmi R. Hebbalkar’s visit to flood-hit and sea erosion-affected areas on Sunday, Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna said that it was an eyewash and none of the five MLAs of the district were informed about it.

Criticising Udupi district in-charge Minister Laxmi R. Hebbalkar’s visit to flood-hit and sea erosion-affected areas on Sunday, Udupi MLA Yashpal Suvarna said that it was an eyewash and none of the five MLAs of the district were informed about it.

Mr. Suvarna said in a statement that the Minister’s visit was “like a stroll on beach eating chikki.”

The MLA said that the Minister arrived in Udupi as a formality only after the people’s outburst. Calling it a perfunctory visit, he said that local MLAs were not informed because all of them were from the BJP.

The Minister did not hold any meeting by taking MLAs into confidence to take stock of the situation and announce relief measures.

He stressed that the district had reported sea erosion, crop loss, landslips and other damage to houses and property. But the minister has ignored all of them. Other MLAs too have expressed their anguish over the same.

Mr. Suvarna said that though the Minister had announced earlier that the district will get ₹5 crore to prevent sea erosion, the funds have not yet been released.

Ms. Hebbalkar conducted only one review meeting in the past 14 months. The people of Udupi do not have any hope in the government, the MLA said.