Date:25/06/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/06/25/stories/2007062558420500.htm

Karnataka - Others

Rain does not bring cheer to people of Kannalli

T.V. Sivanandan

Residents are disappointed as the Chief Minister’s visit to the village is cancelled

People were waiting for Mr. Kumaraswamy
to solve their problems
The village does not have good roads and lacks drainage facilities

KANNALLI VILLAGE (GULBARGA DISTRICT): For the rain-soaked Kannalli in Surpur taluk in Gulbarga district, it was a day of disappointment. Residents rue their bad luck and the untimely rains for the cancellation of the visit of Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy to this irrigation rich village, nestling among rocky hillocks.

Mr. Kumaraswamy was scheduled to stay overnight in the village in the house of a farmer, Basaiah P Hiremath, on Sunday, as part of his grama vatsavya programme. But heavy rain in the State forced the Chief Minister to cancel his visit to Bijapur and Gulbarga districts. The temporary helipads constructed at Sedam and Hunasagi towns were in total disarray and it would have been impossible for the helicopter to land even if the Chief Minister had decided to go ahead with his programme.

The Chief Minister is likely to take a decision on visiting Bijapur and Gulbarga districts in the first week of July. However, the cancellation of the visit to Kannalli village, 25 km from Surpur town, has come as a disappointment to the residents, who were waiting with their problems and expecting the Chief Minister to find solutions to them.

Basaiah Hiremath, whose modest three room house was chosen for the stay of the Chief Minister, and Ningappa Pujari, former gram panchayat president, whose house was chosen for the Chief Minister to have breakfast on June 25 were the most disappointed persons.

Mr. Hiremath said: “I am shocked and do not have any words to explain my disappointment at the turn of events.” Mr. Pujari said that although the rain was required now for farmers, the downpour at this juncture had upset all the programmes.

The village with a population of more than 5,000 is economically well off with most of the agriculture land coming under the command area of the Upper Krishna Project. Paddy and cotton are the main crops. But this economic prosperity has not been transformed into development. The village presents a picture of backwardness in all respects. It does not have good roads, lacks drainage facilities and although the village boosts of having a population of more than 5,000 the gram panchayat headquarters is not located in the village. It also does not have a high school and the children who complete their primary and higher primary have to walk for six km to attend high schools.

The Chief Minister was scheduled to hold a “janata darshan” at the primary school in the village and all the rooms were given a fresh white wash and new toilets and bathrooms were constructed in the school.

Mr. Kumaraswamy was scheduled to the lay foundation stones for the Rs. 12-crore Bonal Lift Irrigation Scheme to provide irrigation facilities to 12,000 acres of land, the Rajankollur Lift Irrigation project costing Rs 9 crore to irrigate 5,000 acres of land and other projects..