Social Worker Holds Novel Protest against Artificial Pond on Govt Hospital Premises in Udupi
Udupi: Social worker Nithyananda Volakadu held a protest on Tuesday to highlight government apathy and negligence in leaving a massive trench dug for building construction on its land and thereby paving the way for the formation of an artificial pond.
Nithyananda protested near the pond standing in the steel bucket of an earthmover beating the drums and holding a warning placard on the premises of the Government Mother and Child Hospital, on KM Marg.
Speaking to media persons he said that the massive trench was dug for the construction of a hospital on public-private partnership with B.R. Shetty Ventures on the land donated by the late Haji Abdullah to the government for construction of healthcare facilities. With the private partner walking out of the project a couple of years ago, the excavation was not attended to.
Nithyananda alleged that rainwater accumulates every monsoon, posing a threat to people and has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes and also posed a threat to other nearby buildings.
Psychologist Dr P.V. Bhandary, who supported the protest by his presence at the site, said that the earlier Siddaramaiah government had entered into a PPP agreement with M/s B.R. Shetty; however, the project did not come up. The site has remained abandoned for the last six years and one would wonder whether the site still belonged to the government.
Dr Bhandary urged the district administration to examine the issue and take immediate steps to fill the excavation to prevent the spread of water-borne diseases.
