Citing deficient rainfall in the catchment areas of
Cauvery in Kodagu, Energy Minister and district in-charge D.K.
Shivakumar on Monday appealed to farmers not to take up paddy and
sugarcane cultivation during the ongoing kharif season.
After
hoisting the tricolour at the Independence Day celebrations at the Sir
M. Visvesvaraya District Stadium here, he said the government wants to
restrict paddy and sugarcane cultivation in the areas dependent on
Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) reservoir as the storage level is very low. He
encouraged ryots to take up alternative crops instead.
“The
State government is committed to repairing all major canals in the
district. We have already modernised 500 km of canals and their
distributaries, and we are committed to developing 1,500 km of canals in
Mandya district in the coming days,” he said.
He also listed out several schemes for farmers, including Krishi Bhagya and Pashu Bhagya, introduced by the State government.
Earlier,
the Energy Minister inspected the guard of honour by various
contingents, including the District Armed Reserve (DAR), the National
Cadet Corps (NCC) and Scouts and Guides. Students of various educational
institutions stole the show with their colourful mass drill and
cultural programmes.
Members of the Mandya Youth Group displayed a 70-foot-long national flag at the stadium.
Deputy
Commissioner S. Ziyaullah, Superintendent of Police C.H. Sudheer Kumar
Reddy, and a few elected representatives and officials took part in the
programme.
Students’ surprise
Meanwhile,
students of a private school displayed posters of D.K. Ravi, Kallappa
Handibag and M.K. Ganapathy — senior officers who committed suicide in
recent times — during their performance at the Independence Day
programme.
However, officials instantly stopped the
music for a while and collected the posters from them. According to
teachers of the school, Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar was unhappy with
the students’ act.
While Education Department
officials refused to comment on the issue, school authorities said they
did not have any intention to glorify the officers. The suicides of all
three officers had created a storm in Assembly sessions, besides
prompting associations to hold a series of protests.
Source : The Hindu
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