Residents staging a dharna in front of the gram panchayat office at Kukkehalli in Udupi district on Monday. | Photo Credit: handout_mail more-in Residents of Punchur, Kambalmajalu, Cholebettu, and Bairbettu areas staged a dharna in front of the gram panchayat Office here on Monday demanding the closure of a fish processing unit, which they said, had polluted water of wells and was causing health problems. Nearly 70% of people in these areas belong to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The unit has been in existence for about 10 years. Kasturi Shetty, homemaker, said that there were two wells belonging to the Kukkehalli Gram Panchayat. Both these wells had got polluted because of the release of effluents from the processing unit. “It is no longer possible for us to drink water from these wells and we get water from other places,” she said. Pushpa Shetty, another homemaker, said that her nine-year old daughter had developed wheezing due to the use of the well water. Susheela Naik, homemaker, said that though the residents of these areas had brought the matter to the notice of the gram panchayat, no action was being taken to solve it. “By using the water from these wells, many people had developed rashes on their skins,” she said. Sanjeev Naik, a resident, said that there were about 100 houses in these areas. The effluents from the unit got mixed into the nearby Madisal rivulet and polluting the areas down stream. The matter had been brought to the notice of the Gram Panchayat, District Administration, Social Welfare Department and Karnataka State Pollution Control Board. But no action had been taken. Both the major parties, Congress and BJP, too were not interested in this matter. “If no action is taken soon on this matter, we will boycott the forthcoming Assembly polls,” he said. GP reaction However, Ashalata D. Shetty, President of Gram Panchayat, said that an official team recently inspected the area. The gram panchayat had written to the CEO of Zilla Panchayat about the problem, she said. Vasanthi Shetty, in-charge Panchayat Development Officer, said that there were about 60 houses in the areas. A team from the KSPCB had visited the affected areas. The unit had been warned against releasing effluents. While one well had got affected, the other well was not. Wherever there was drinking water scarcity, water was being supplied through the water tankers, she said.

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