Sweet as well as bitter incidents mark 2010 in coffeeland

Though Kodagu district MLA was elected as the Speaker of the Assembly in 2009, the demands of the people to get a recognition in the Cabinet was not materialised. The coffee growers who had been demanding coffee package for the loss of crop received a good news from UPA Government which announced a package of Rs 241.33 crore.
The Union budget stresssed on the survey for the railway route beyween Mysore-Kushalngar and Madikeri. Unfortunately, no action has been taken so far in this regard. The CM announced a special package of Rs 25 crore for the integrated development of roads in Kodagu district. The district witnessed stiff resistance for the proposal to include Talacauvery, Brahmagiri, Pushpagiri to World Heritage Site. In fact, the elected representatives and various organisations picketed the UNESCO representatives who visited the district on October 19.

The discussion on the world heritage site came to an end with the District-in-Charge Minister C H Vijayashankar assuring to write a letter to the Central government to drop the proposal.

Tragedies
Coming to the tragedies, the beginning of the year saw a murder of a supporting actor Shankar in a home stay at Mekeri on January 12. In the air crash tragedy at Bajpe in Mangalore, Apparanda Chitra, her son Rahul and husband Jayaram were killed.
Owing to the spurious injection, three patients died in Suntikoppa and Kushalnagar hospitals on September 18. Owing to the incident, DHO Dr Shivaram Nayak was transferred from the district. The contaminated water claimed two tribals in the district on December 22. Ravindra sacrificed his life to the country while fighting against terrorists in Jammu in September. 

The wild elephant menace continues to haunt the district. Though the Union government has given its nod to catch two rogue elephants in Ammathi and Maldare, the drive is yet to be started.

Transfers
Several senior officers were transferred this year. Zilla Panchayat CEO Mirza Akbarulla was transferred within few months of his arrival in the district. ITDP Officer L J Ghanti, Women and Child Welfare department Deputy Firector Sheharbany, Agriculture department Joint Director K R Krishnanaiah were also transferred.

Sports
In Maneyapanda 20-10 hockey Utsav, Palanganda team won the tournament. Asian Games bronze medal winner Pramila Ayyappa was felicitated by the district administration. Tibetan Spiritual Head visited the district to take part in the 50th year of Tibetan Internal democracy. Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa visited Kodagu on November 15 to distribute sarees to the beneficiaries of Bhagyalakshmi yojana.

Madikeri city
The main roads in the Madikeri town were concreted. Three acre land was acquired from the Bangalore Agriculture University for the shifting of the provate bus stand in Madikeri on February 2. The year has seen lot of developments with regard to the ambitious Kundamestri drinking water project. Finally, the State government has agreed to implement the project at a cost of Rs 30 crore. The election to the post of CMC President and Vice-President saw commotion and protest in the CMC which forced the Election Officer to postpone the election. In the ruckus, four journalists suffered injuries. The ruckus in the CMC will remain as a black mark in the history of CMC forever. Finally, the year is ending with Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat elections.