Fish meal units irk residents

Speaking to media persons Punachuru Ramachandra Bhat, the resident of the village alleged that the two fish meal units have been illegally set up at Punachuru in Bellampalli area of Kukkehalli Gram Panchayat.

“Punachuru village has 100 houses, of which majority belongs to ST. The two fish meal units are situated in 2.5 acre land. The fish meal industries had converted the land for non residential purpose to set up brick industry. Hence, they availed 75 per cent subsidy from the government,” Bhat alleged. 

Former Navay Officer Capt Satyanath Hegde, the resident of Kukkehalli alleged that the politicians have done nothing to save the environment.

“The waste discharged from the plants will contaminate the well water used for drinking purpose besides creating foul smell in the surrounding. The residents in the area are largely dependent on agriculture. The area is also surrounded by forest. Besides, the effluents containing harmful chemicals will be accumulated in the vented dam built across Madisalu River flowing nearby. Fish meal plants should be always permitted in fisheries harbour and not in residential areas,” he said.

The area comes under Kaup assembly constituency and MLA Lalaji R Mendon had promised to do the needful. However, he has remained silent over the issue. “We had submitted about 85 memorandums to the MLAs. The plants are functioning without obtaining license from the Gram Panchayat,” he said.

A memorandum has been submitted to Deputy Commissioner Dr M T Reju, who in turn has promised to assess the situation. “If DC fails to provide us justice, then we will approach High Court for justice,” he added.