Expectations high in Kodagu from state budget

Kodagu district which was hit by natural calamities for the last few years is expecting bumper announcements in the state budget.

The expectations of the people are high and they are eagerly waiting for Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa to announce some solutions to the problems faced by the people in the district.

The district had suffered from massive landslides and flood in 2018, causing extensive damages. The district never returned to normalcy since then.

The coffee growers who are reeling under crisis are expecting a package, loan waiver, free electricity and waiver of electricity bills.

The Union Budget had not announced any special package for the coffee growers. Now, they are staring at the state budget, which will be presented by the chief minister on Monday.

Already, a delegation of coffee growers had met Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and submitted a memorandum to announce a special package for the growers.

MLAs from the Malnad area including K G Bopaiah too have appealed to the chief minister to announce a package for arecanut growers.

Though the athletes from the district have been shining in hockey, cricket, badminton and other sports, there is no stadium in the district to train these athletes. To promote sports talents from Kodagu, there is a need to set up a sports university in the district. The Kodava Samaja from Bengaluru had already appealed for the same.

Further, people are eagerly waiting to see if the budget will earmark Rs 5 crore for the Kodava hockey festival held every year in the district.

Jagadish from Madikeri said, “It will be better if the grants are given for the development of roads in rural areas. The silt from rivers, rivulets and other water bodies has not been removed so far. There is a need to earmark funds for the same.”

Further, the man-animal conflict is on the rise in the district. Along with elephants, even tiger menace is haunting the district.

The drive to capture a tiger has not been successful in the district so far. Will the state budget announce any permanent solution to the wild animals’ menace in the district is a question that needs to be answered.

Further, River Cauvery, the lifeline of Kodagu and other districts in Karnataka, is polluted. The people of the district have been demanding funds for cleaning the river.

Though the previous coalition government had announced funds for removing silt, it was restricted to Kushalnagar only. The work has remained incomplete.

In addition, several flood and natural calamity victims have not received compensation from the government.

As per the survey conducted by the district administration, Kodagu has 10,000 poor shelterless, who are expecting a roof over their head. The shelterless are expecting a package for them as well.