MLA Lobo Fulfills 50 Years Long Pending Kulshekar-Saripalla Road Concrete Work
Mangaluru: The Guddali Puja for the development work of Kulshekar-Umikan-Saripalla Road on February 4.
MLA J R Lobo performed the Guddali Puja along with the Mayor of MCC Kavitha Sanil.
After the Guddali Puja, a stage programme was held at Kulshekar. Councillor Bhaskar K welcomed the gathering and delivered the keynote address. Bhaskar said that from the past 50 years the residents of Kulshekar, Umikan and Saripalla were struggling to have a proper road. But it was not possible to get the approval from the Railway department. Our MLA J R Lobo has put tremendous efforts from past 4 years and succeeded in getting the approval from the Southern Railway. Today we all should appreciate and thank MLA J R Lobo for his commitment in getting approval from the Railway department.
Addressing the gathering MLA J R Lobo said, “Today is the happiest day for all of us because the long pending dream of getting a concrete road has finally been realized. Five years ago, when I came for the election campaign in this area, the people of this area had requested me to concretize the Kulshekar-Umikan-Saripalla road. Without a second thought, I said yes to them. As soon as the elections were over and I became the MLA, I started my work on getting approval for this road. But there were a number of hurdles because of the involvement of the Southern Railway. I met all the higher officials from the Southern Railway but our file in Chennai was not being moved to Delhi for approval. One fine day during the discussions concretize the road here, one of my good friends assured of helping me get the permission from the Chairman. He then met the Chairman of the Southern Railway in Delhi, called me from the Chairman’s chamber and connected me to the chairman. When I explained about the plight of the residents of Kulshekar, Umikan and Saripalla. The Chairman asked for 30 minutes time and within half an hour, he called me and said that the permission was granted and in return, he said that we had to pay Rs 1.32 crore to the railway department.”
MLA Lobo further said, “When I get the positive reply from the chairman I was speechless. Immediately I called the Mayor, Commissioner and the concerned department heads in MCC and conveyed about obtaining the permission and the amount of Rs 1.32 crore to be paid to the railway department. The Mayor and the Commissioner agreed to pay the amount from the MCC premium FAR funds. We have now paid Rs 1.32 crore to the Southern Railway. The Mayor, Commissioner, chief whip of MCC Sashidhar Hegde and others have supported me a lot in this project. Even when I was campaigning in Bengre, the people there had requested me to get them the papers of the land rights and I had promised of providing them the same. Today we have given more than 2000 land rights papers to the residents of Bengre. In Jeppu Kudpadi also we had carried out the development work but today someone else is taking the credit for it. “Success has 100 fathers but failure is always an orphan. The government has reserved Rs 10.5 crore for the road development work in these areas. If you support us surely we will develop this area very fast.”
While concluding Lobo said, “Whatever we have promised during the elections we have fulfilled. We are not just giving assurances but we work hard to fulfill the promises. We need your support in the coming days for the development of Kulshekar, Umikan and Saripalla area. You have blessed me in the last elections and I need your continued support to carry out the development work.”
Addressing the gathering former Mayor Sashidhar Hegde said, “As soon as MLA Lobo called me and informed about getting the approval from the Southern Railway to concrete the Kulshekar-Umikan-Saripalla road, we immediately called for a meeting and briefed the council members about the payment of Rs 1.32 crore to the Southern Railway. During the meeting, many opposed the idea but we stood firm in our decision because from the past 50 years many have tried to get permission from the Railway Department to concrete the road and failed. When MLA Lobo got the permission, some councillors opposed it but we stood firm in our decision to go ahead and pass the project. Accordingly, we paid Rs 1.32 crore from the MCC Premium FAR funds to the Southern Railway.”
Sashidhar further said, “37 wards come under Mangaluru South Constituency and MLA Lobo has given priority to developing the rural areas. He has not discriminated against any of the councillors but given importance for the development work and whenever any councillor approached him in regard to any project, he has supported them forgetting party differences. We are lucky to have such a dedicated people’s representative whose mantra is only development.”
Councillors Rouf, Nagaveni, Naveen D’Souza, Sabitha Misquith and Keshav Maroli, Kallige Taranath Shetty, Linge Gowda, Prabhakar Shriyan and others were also present.