Madikeri MLA orders restoration of BPL cards, crackdown on LPG lapses

Madikeri: Madikeri MLA Manthar Gowda on Tuesday directed food department officials to immediately clear confusion caused by the conversion of BPL ration cards to APL cards.At the quarterly Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) meeting held at Kushalnagar, he asked officials to restore eligible beneficiaries wrongly shifted to APL status. He said affected cardholders should contact the officials concerned without delay.The MLA said the conversion had caused hardship, particularly to tribal families who were being denied ration supplies and govt benefits. Kushalnagar Taluk Guarantee Implementation Committee president VP Shashidhar criticised officials over the issue.Deputy director of food department Bhimaraya Kellur said there was no shortage of domestic LPG cylinders in the district, but supply of commercial LPG cylinders was inadequate. Against a daily requirement of 1,200 cylinders, only 250 were being supplied, he said.The MLA ordered that LPG be supplied on priority to hospitals, hostels, anganwadis, hotels and resorts. He also warned against black marketing, overpricing, underweight cylinders and illegal gas refilling, and directed officials to conduct raids and take legal action.Gowda further instructed officials to prevent illegal construction along riverbanks and lakes in Kushalnagar taluk. No buildings should be permitted within 50 metres of rivers and six metres of lakes, he said, and called for immediate action on the development of Kushalnagar Tavarekere.Raising sanitation concerns at the APMC yard's weekly market, the MLA objected to waste being dumped and burnt on the riverbank and pulled up officials. He directed that sanitation work and toll collection from street vendors be handed over to the Kushalnagar municipality.He also said the Kushalnagar sewerage project was nearly complete and would be inaugurated by the end of the month. Households will pay a one-time maintenance fee of Rs 3,000 for sewer connections, while commercial buildings will pay up to Rs 10,000.