Speaking to Star of Mysore here yesterday, Patil said that since the plying of vehicles during the nights on the 10-km stretch of the Mysore-Manan-davadi road passing through Nagarahole is restricted, an alternative road is being constructed for smooth vehicular traffic. As such, a road is being constructed from Dammanakatte to Udbur Gate at an estimated cost of Rs. 18 crore, he said.

The estimate for the project has been approved by the Finance Department and is under consideration by the State Cabinet, he said.

Hunsur-Kodagu road

The Finance Department has given its approval for the development of Hunsur-Gonikoppal-Kodagu road at a cost of Rs. 28 crore, of which Rs. 17.58 cr. has been released under the Hunsur Division and Rs. 11 crore under the Madikeri Division, he said.

No potholes

“All the potholes on State Highways have been filled and they are now 100 per cent potholes-free, said Patil and added that 95 per cent potholes in district highways have been filled.” he said.

Zonal Superintendent Venkatesh and Biligiriranga Swamy of Hunsur Division were present.

The story so far;

1. On December 28,2008, the accused ignoring legal warnings and a stay order from supreme court, swoop down at Pushpagiri Reserve Forest with a posse of policemen and villagers and start construction of the road. The then DCF(Deputy Conservator of Forests) of Madikeri, Anil Kumar Rathan rushes to the spot with forest officials to stop the construction and gets into an argument with the accused. The DCF and his officials are warned by the accused not to interfere.
2. Air Marshal(Retd) Cariappa takes the matter to the court. The Supreme Court constitutes the CEC to look into the matter. CEC issues notice to all the accused asking them to appear before the Supreme Court.
3. Meanwhile, disciplinary action is taken against the then Conservator of Forests G.A. Sudharshan in another case of tree felling in a reserve forest during his tenure and he is suspended by the Govt, later re-instated.
4. The DCF Mr. Anil Kumar Rathan is suddenly transferred out of Coorg. Allegedly at the behest of the accused.
5. CEC visit Coorg to inspect the location. The accused tell the CEC that the disputed land belongs to one “Saroja”.  CEC officials are offered royal treatment by district administration.
6. Circa 2012. CEC submits the report, indicting the accused and asks the Supreme Court for stern intervention against them.

We are a team of 30 members from 15 different families of Chickpet in Virajpet. We call ourselves the Coorg Challengers Chickpet Association (CCCA). The families’ motive is to revive interest in hockey among Bangaloreans and donate the profit from these tournaments to orphanages and blind schools. Today, we are what we are because of hockey and we want to give back to the sport by instilling that spirit in as many youngsters as we can.

Further adding that;

Last year, 24 teams participated and the profits were handed over to Thejaswi Seva Trust in Kumaraswamy Layout and Field Marshal Cariappa Hockey Trust in Virajpet to nurture potential hockey-players.

Among the awardees were four from Karnataka and both the gallantry award winners were from Kodagu. Major Madhusudhan BS won a medal for leading his team to ambush a militant group in Manipur in April.

Lance Nayak KB Lava bagged the Sena Medal for gallantry for shooting down an insurgent at close quarters in Assam, 2010. Lava was part of a team involved in a search operation. As the team was proceeding, an insurgent jumped out of a house to attack them. Lava, however, shot him before he could pull the trigger.

Apart from these two, Major General Mohan Prahlad Rao Muttagikar (retd) and Brigadier Mangal Murthi Prasad were presented with Vishisht Seva Medal.

The project has been jinxed since long. Decided in 2005, and though 1 crore was sanctioned for the project, nor was the amount released or did the RTO move out.

In 2010, frustrated with Govt’s attitude, The Convener of the ‘General K.S.Thimmaiah Memorial Project’, Major (Rtd.) Nanjappa resigned after his repeated pleas to release the amount and request the RTO to shift, fell to deaf ears.

Virajpet MLA & Assembly speaker K G Bopaiah inspected the works on friday to make sure all the arrangements are in place to receive the CM.

Madikeri MLA Appachu Ranjan has  demanded a separate division for Madikeri and a proposal for the same is with the state government. Madikeri is currently served by Puttur division.

Madikeri is facing acute water shortage now and then. The CMC is banking on the Kunda Maistry Reservoir Project to be completed, to tide over the water crisis in future.

Stating that they are increasing the water tax after a decades,  CMC president Nandakumar said ” the people can afford the hike”.