Mangaluru: The hand-in-glove trait of the political class that administers Belthangady taluk obliterated the demands of locals of Melantabettu to vacate an illegal pig slaughterhouse functioning in the place. The lives of residents living near the slaughterhouse is one filled with fear, as they lament, how they were denied the breath of life giving fresh air.
Though, in the list of licensed slaughterhouses of chicken and pigs operating in Belthangady taluk there was no mention of Melantabettu’s pig abattoir, it has been operating without procuring a license since eight years. it is learnt that the complaints raised by the locals at Panchayat level were junked due to political pressure.
“We live in constant fear as threats loom every time we complain to the concerned authority,” said Yogish Melantabettu, Trustee of Bhagavati temple to Newskarnataka.com. “I have complained several times to the Panchayat, only to realize that no action was initiated.” People are forced to live with the disgusting odor emanating from the abattoir. “We are denied our fundamental right to breathe fresh air.” He alleged that the house run by Ramesh on the land belonging to Sachin has the backing of the MLA of Belthangady, Vasanth Bangera.
Yogish says he has received threat calls from Sachin, who happens to be a kin of Tulasi A (BJP), a member of Zilla Panchayat and is also allegedly supported by ZP member Shailesh Kumar (Congress). In a nutshell, these local politicians and the MLA allegedly are hand in glove, in protecting the illegal slaughter house.
When quizzed on the issue, MLA Vasanth Bangera expressed the view that the Village Panchayat was responsible for not dismantling the slaughterhouse. On being further questioned regarding the local officials failure to act, he cited his health condition, and said he would ask the officials to look into the issue, once his health condition improved. He assured that speedy action would be taken.
However, when contacted, Sachin, on whose land the abattoir was being run, displayed arrogance, asking this reporter to produce the complaint raised by the locals. “Show me the complaint copy, later I will think of removing the abattoir,” he said rebutting the allegation.
The effort of this news portal to reach out to the Village Panchayat president , Prabhakar Achari (BJP), proved futile, as he disconnected the call on learning that the subject of the queries he would have to answer to, was the illegal pig abattoir.
The district BJP president Pratap Simha Nayak said the matter has come to his notice and the allegation of political parties being hand-in-glove leveled by the locals was known to him. When questioned about role of Tulasi, he said he has been putting maximum efforts to demolish the slaughterhouse.
However Tulasi passed the buck to Shailesh, ZP member (Congress) claiming though Sachin was her relative she was unaware of all these allegations.
Shailesh, ducking the questions on inaction toed the line of the MLA saying the Village Panchayat was responsible for all these matters. He had no answers on why he did not pressurize the Panchayat president to initiate action. He assured that he would consider this problem on priority and suggest to the Village Panchayat officials to take stringent action.
