MNREGA work helps fill Mailar (Khanapur) temple pond

Source The Hindu :

The pond at the Mailar Mallanna temple in Khanapur of Bhalki taluk has been revived after it was cleaned under MNREGA.— Photo: Gopichand T.
Work under the MNREGA has helped rejuvenate the kalyani in Mailar Mallanna temple in Khanapur in Bhalki taluk.

The huge pond behind the temple complex had dried up for several years and tourists had turned into a garbage dump yard. The work by villagers from Khanapur, Malchapur and Khanapur tanda, has resulted in the kalyani holding a large amount of water now.

When the Bidar Zilla Panchayat decided to clean and dredge kalyanis under MNREGA, ponds in the Mallanna temple were the first to be taken up.

Over 300 labourers were involved in cleaning three ponds in the temple premises, for around 60 days. This was among the drought relief works taken up by the district administration that Chief Minister Siddharamaiah visited in May.

“We engaged every available labourer,” says Godavari Biradar, panchayat development officer. “Usually, labourers from the three villages under Malchapur Gram panchayat go to Hyderabad and Solapur to work in the construction industry. This year, they could not go to Maharashtra due to the drought. We were happy because we could create enough jobs for them locally.”

“Such work will continue,” assures Pavan Kumar Malpati, zilla panchayat chief executive officer. “This is just the beginning. We have over 400 kalyanis in the district, most of them in rural areas. We will take up their cleaning in phases, he said. Watershed developments works should be taken up on priority as per MNREGA guidelines. Such works help push up the water table, improve yields, sustain cattle and ensure prosperity of the village, apart from helping check distress migration.”

Farmers in Khanapur say their village is the Prempur mentioned in the Puranas. They believe the story to be true and express concern that only a few of these ponds remain now. Some have been encroached and others have been filled with mud to cultivate crops, they say. After a survey of the area last month, the department of tourism and Team YUVA NGO counted 68 ponds.

Source :http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/mnrega-work-helps-fill-khanapur-temple-pond/article8774814.ece

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be invited to inaugurate the Bidar-Kalaburgi railway

Sourec : The Hindu ..

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be invited to inaugurate the Bidar-Kalaburgi railway line in April 2017, MP Bhagwant Khuba, said on Thursday.

The line that has been pending from 1999, will be completed by April. Officials have confirmed that works are nearing completion and the pending works are on schedule, he told presspersons after inspecting works along the railway from Khanapur to Maragutti.

Mr Khuba said efforts of leaders like former Chief Minister B. S Yeddyurappa released half the cost of the project as the state’s share. Union railway minister of state Basanagouda Patil Yatnal also ensured it was taken up on priority, he claimed.

T.P. Narayan Rao, chief engineer of the south central railway, said the project with an estimated cost of Rs 1,500 crore was almost complete. All works will be completed by December, trial runs will be done in January. The line could be completely operational by April, the officer said.

Laying of 104 km of the 110.4 km was over. The 1.67 kilometre long tunnel work in Maragutti in Kalaburgi district is in progress with tunneling of 1.47 km completed. Work on around 200 m will be completed soon, he said.

The line has 14 major bridges, 183 minor bridges, 13 over-bridges and 53 underbridges along the way. There are 13 stations along the route. Tunnel workers are being supplied with all safety equipment including oxygen supply pipelines, officers informed.

Source:http://m.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/pm-to-be-invited-to-inaugurate-bidar-kalaburgi-railway-line/article8737442.ece

  

Bidar administration aiming to plant one crore saplings in a day

Source: the Hindu ..

Bidar district administration is aiming to create a Guinness record by planting the highest number of trees in a day, Deputy Commissioner Anurag Tewari said here on Monday.

“The record is around 20 lakh trees planted in a day. We are trying to break the record by planting one crore saplings in a day,” Mr. Tewari said at the World Environment Day celebrations in Gnyana Sudha Vidyalaya.

He asked students to realise that planting saplings and caring for them were methods of nation building.

Trees help bring rain, retain moisture and improve the quality of top soil, fix nitrogen and support thousands of life forms. Trees do not talk, but they quickly establish an emotional bond with you, he told the children.

He spoke about how the Union and State governments were promoting tourism through various schemes and programmes. He planted a sapling on the school premises at Mamankeri and distributed saplings to children.

Poornima G., president of the school committee, said that the school would nurture roadside saplings planted from Mamankeri Cross to the school premises.

Mouneshwar Lakha, school committee director, said that the district administration was trying to clean and dredge the Surang Bavi / Karez [underground aqueduct] in Bidar to promote it as a tourist destination.

Chandrashekar Patil, school committee member, was present.

The record is around 20 lakh trees and

we are trying to break it, says Deputy Commissioner

Source :http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/bidar-administration-aiming-to-plant-one-crore-saplings-in-a-day/article8698712.ece