Udupi: A five-member sub-committee will draw up a plan to renovate the half-constructed open air theatre — lying in a state of neglect for the past four years — on four acres of land at Beedinagudde here.

Presiding over a meeting on development of the theatre here on Tuesday, Pramod Madhwaraj, MLA, said Rs. 2.5 crore had been spent by the previous Udupi City Municipal Council (CMC) to build the open air theatre.

The intention was to provide a space to hold big public meetings, Republic Day and Independence Day functions, cultural and sports events as there was a lack of big grounds in the city. But the project was left half-done. The CMC did not have funds to appoint guards and maintain the theatre on a sustained basis. It was necessary to make the theatre a self-sustainable, operating with the funds generated in the way of fees for the events held there.

But there were nearly 500 huts on a private land to the north of the theatre. Migrant workers from north Karnataka live in these huts and pay a rent to the land owners. The colony lacked proper toilets and it was necessary to motivate the residents to use toilets. The CMC should call the land owners and ask them to construct more toilets for them, Mr. Madhwaraj said.

P. Yuvaraj, CMC president, said the CMC had drawn up a Rs. 83.6 lakh plan to improve the open air theatre. This included construction of a chain-lock fence, gates and parking facility with interlock tiles.

But some members at the meeting demanded a six-feet high pucca compound wall, which is estimated to cost around Rs. 1.5 crore. Some members said that if a chain-lock fence was constructed, everything would be visible. Some others said that a public ground hosting public rallies should be visible to all. The traffic police officials preferred a compound wall.

Mr. Manjunathayya warned that constructing a compound wall would not only escalate costs, but also delay the project.

Finally, it was decided to appoint a five-member sub-committee to examine all the issues related to the open air theatre threadbare and prepare a report.

Kundapura: The robbers who have shown their theft skills in and around Udupi district are trapped by the cops of various police stations under the guidance of Kundapur DYSP Manjunath Shetty.

The robbers were expert in decamping the electronics from electrical and mobile shops. Out of 7 interstate robbers, 4 are arrested by the police. Search is on for rest three thieves.

The arrested thieves are from Rajasthan. Giridharlal(21), ManikChand (38), Prakash (24) and Sunil Sen(18) are the accused. Main accused Nathuram, Bada Dinesh and Chota Dinesh are absconding.

Electronic appliances around 17.5 lacks, vehicles around 7.90 lacks, Pistols and bullets around 1 lack is detained from the thieves.

208 mobile phone worth 13.5 lacks, home appliances worth 2.5 lacks, electrical worth 1.5 lack, mini lorry, Bolero jeep and Pulsar bike is seized by the cops.

The serial theft that happened on 6th of July in Vigneshwara complex was captured on CC Tv. On police inspection of the footage they noted a mini lorry that had radium sticker on it. On benefit of doubt an officer had hailed for Rajasthan in search of the lorry.

And other teams were searching for the lorry in Udupi, Bhatkal and Hubbali areas. The arrested persons are infamous interstate robbers and Many states are after these thieves to put them behind the bars. They had borrowed the lorry from a person in Bengaluru for hire and they had written press on their bike.

The cops team:

Udupi SP Annamali, Additional SP Santhosh, DYSP Kundapur Manjunath Shetty, Inspector Diwakar, PSI Nasir Husain, Head constables Udaya Kundar, Ratnakar. Karkala staff Murti, Prakash, Nagendra, Kundapura DYSP office Shivanad, Dinesh, Shankarnarayan PSI Dejappa and many others were present.

Udupi: The ‘Tapta Mudra Dharana’ ritual commenced at the Shri Krishna Temple here, on July 27.

Shri Vidyavallbha Teertha Swamiji of Paryaya Kaniyoor Math placed the images of ‘shankha’ (conch) and ‘chakra’ (wheel) on the chest and arms of the devotees.

Earlier, the seals of ‘shankha’ and ‘chakra’ were heated during the Sudarshana Homa conducted in the temple. Devotees formed long queues in front of the temple and waited for their turn to participate in the ritual.

The ‘chakra’ is sealed on the right arm, while the ‘shanka’ is sealed on the left. women too can get it done on their arms.

Pramod Muthalik also took part in the Tapta Mudra Dharana ritual in Krishna Matt.

The seals are normally stamped on the stomach of little girls and boys who have not undergone the thread ceremony. Swamijis of all matts performed the ritual.

Religious heads from various parts of the state came to the temple town to take part in the ceremony. The ceremony is held on the day of Prathama Ekadashi or Sayani Ekadashi. It is believed that Mudra Dharana helps build resistance in the body against diseases.

Udupi: The Udupi sub-unit excise department today seized Goa liquor worth Rs 50,000 being sold in the train and took two persons into custody.

The accused has been identified as Vishnu Bin (23) and Jayan B Bhaskaran (37).

The accused were arrested at Udupi Railway Station. They were carrying 103.5 liters of liquor from six sac bags. The operation was conducted Udupi unit Excise department Sub Inspector.

Udupi: In the general meeting held at Taluk Panchayat on Wednesday it was decided that 124 aceres will be allotted through Taluk and Gram Panchayat for housing colonies said Tahsildar T.G.Guruprasad.

He spoke at the 27th general meeting held at Udupi and said that the houses that are damaged completely will be given compensation within 24 hours. And rest would be given within 15 days.

Kandaya Adalat will be held in 4 hoblies of the district to solve the problems related to RTC for government buildings. Government officers may fill the application for construction of government buildings.

Pension adalat will be held from 3rd week of July. And pension of 1500 rupees for Endosalphone deceased ( 9 people of Bommarabettu and 10 persons of Perdoor )will be credited to their accounts.

Adhar and Epic card is made mandatory for Ration cards. Those who haven’t enrolled Adhar number or Epic number or applied with incomplete details will have to re apply for the Ration card. Such persons are asked apply online said Food and Civil supplies department associate director Sadashiva Shetty.

Because of ban on sand lifting and transportation laborers are facing trouble. District must have separate rules demanded Rama Kulal.

Vice president Ganesh Kumar gave instructions to give proper security and basic facilities for the students of Patla ladies hostel students.

Karkala: Udupi DC Dr.Vishal visited various places in Karkala to review the development and pros and cons of the villages.

He inspected development work of Karkala Banglegudde junction circle construction work, Arunodaya school site, uncertain Kabettu bridge work, Miyyaru Morarji Desai hostel, PU hostel necessary construction work etc.

He also visited Anti Naxal camp and various other development work in and around Karkala. He gave instructions to officers of PWD about the construction works.

Tahsildar Raghavendra, Purasabha chief Rayappa, President Rahamat S Shekh, member Mahammad Sharif, PWD engineer, Purasabha engineer, IT officers and village accountant were present.

Udupi: Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake, , said on Monday that it was necessary to provide better marketing facilities to farmers to sell their products.

Inaugurating the Udupi hobli-level agricultural campaign organised by the Zilla Panchayat along with agriculture and other related departments, here,Mr. Sorake said that farmers suffer as they do not get good price for their produce. A mechanism whereby the farmers can sell their produce is essential. It is also necessary to provide cold storage and food processing facilities for both agricultural and horticultural produce. "Besides fetching better price, such facilities will add value to the produce," he said.

A large section of the population in both the district still depends on agriculture, horticulture and dairy farming. However, agriculture and horticulture do not appeal to the younger generation. Even agriculture degree holders prefer white-collared jobs in the cities to ploughing their fields.

Though both the Union and State governments have launched several programmes for giving a fillip to agriculture, it did not have the desired impact. This is because of the gap between Government departments and the farmers.

“It is essential to encourage the farmers to take to mechanization of agriculture and inform them about new techniques to improve the yield of their crops. The government departments should go to the doorsteps of the farmers,” he said.

The departments should also provide both agricultural and horticultural farmers information about the diseases and the pests that could affect their crops and the measures that can be taken to prevent them. “Advance information about diseases and pests would go a long way in protecting the crop and benefit the farmers,” he said.

Water resources play an important role in helping the farmers. The district has a huge potential as far as water resources are concerned. This potential needs to be tapped. Since water and agriculture are inter-connected, the agriculture and watershed have been merged at the district and hobli-level for better coordination, a few years ago, Mr. Sorake said.

Ida Gibba D'Souza, Upendra Nayak, Zilla Panchayat members, Shobha S. Poojarti, Ganesh Kumar, Taluk Panchayat members, Anthony Maria Immanuel, Joint Director of Agriculture, M. Hanumanthappa, Associate Director of Zonal Agricultural and Horticultural Research Station, Jayalaxmi N. Hegde, Programme Coordinator of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, were present.

Pramod Madhwaraj, MLA, said on Friday that 16 out of the 18 gram panchayats (GPs) in Udupi Assembly constituency had been covered under two projects of the multi-village drinking water supply scheme.

He was chairing a meeting of panchayat development officers and other officials on tackling water scarcity in rural areas, here.

Mr. Madhwaraj said that the surveyors would visit the villages from Monday. It was essential that the PDOs and the engineers accompanied them and gave them a clear picture of the water requirement in their villages. Although the scheme provided for supply of drinking water from nearby rivers and rivulets, the gram panchayats should keep the traditional sources of water supply in their areas alive too.

If for any reason, water could not be supplied from the scheme, then the gram panchayats could always fall back on the traditional sources. Already an amount of Rs. 40 lakh had been provided to the affected gram pancahayats in the constituency so that they could supply water through tankers in the parched areas. The officials of the Mangalore Electricity Supply Company had been directed to provide uninterrupted power supply to the drinking water plants.

Any disruption in power supply to the water plants would disrupt water supply in these areas, Mr. Madhwaraj said. He directed the PDOs to take the help of police if some individuals were objecting to striking borewells near their houses.

The PDOs of Tenkanidiyur, Kokkarne and Harady informed the meeting about the quantity of water that they had provided through water tankers to areas affecting water scarcity.