Allegations that contractors were coerced into paying unauthorised fees to the Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd. (KRIDL) triggered a heated exchange at the Dakshina Kannada KDP meeting, with the district administration asked to recommend an investigation, according to a Times of India report.
Puttur MLA Ashok Kumar Rai alleged that contractors were being pressured to pay fees of up to 7% under the guise of KRIDL charges. BJP legislators, including MLC Kishore Kumar Puttur and MLAs Y Bharath Shetty, Harish Poonja and Rajesh Naik, demanded an inquiry by a sitting judge. The allegations were not established in the report as proven findings.
The demand led to a confrontation at the meeting chaired by district minister UT Khader. The report said BJP legislators also alleged that the Congress government was involved in “60% commission” corruption. MLC Ivan D’Souza and Khader objected to the allegation, resulting in commotion. A separate exchange followed after a remark by Khader against Bharath Shetty.
Khader directed Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Darshan HV to write to the state government recommending an appropriate investigation into the allegations. He also instructed the deputy commissioner to include the BJP legislators’ demand for a sitting judge-led inquiry in the communication. The next step reported by the district administration is therefore a recommendation to the state government; no inquiry order was reported as having been issued at the meeting.
The meeting also raised questions about administrative participation in district-level planning and monitoring. Khader warned senior officials from all departments against skipping KDP meetings and expressed displeasure over the absence of Mangaluru City police commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy. The KDP forum brought together elected representatives and officials to discuss infrastructure, environmental regulation and civic services across Dakshina Kannada.
Legislators from different political parties also opposed implementation of the Kasturirangan report. The report covers 43 villages in Belthangady, Kadaba, Sullia and Puttur taluks. Khader directed the deputy commissioner and the chief executive officer of the Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat to convene special gram sabhas so residents could be informed about objections to be submitted to the Union government.
Khader said a special session of the state legislature would be held from September 21 to 23 to discuss the implications of the Kasturirangan report. He also directed forest department officials to provide Dakshina Kannada’s MLAs and MLCs with details of the report’s potential advantages and disadvantages before September 20.
Separately, the meeting highlighted a major gap in Mangaluru’s underground drainage network. MLC PV Mohan raised concerns about water contamination and said several temples were unable to use their own waterbodies for religious purposes because of inadequate underground drainage facilities.
Mangaluru City Corporation commissioner Rahul Ratnam Pandey said the city generated 89 million litres of sewage a day, of which 49 million litres was treated. Around 44 sq km of the corporation area remained without underground drainage connections, according to the report.
A proposal estimated at Rs 350 crore is likely to be placed before the state cabinet for approval to take up underground drainage works in the city’s central business district in the first phase. The commissioner said extending underground drainage facilities to all uncovered areas would require Rs 1,250 crore. The immediate official milestones are the deputy commissioner’s communication on the KRIDL allegations, the proposed cabinet consideration of the first-phase drainage works and the scheduled legislative session on the Kasturirangan report.
