Case filed against Shama Rao Foundation for alleged encroachment of riverbed near Mangaluru

On getting information that the promoters of Srinivas College had encroached on parts of 4.11 poramboke (community) land of Nandini river for construction of a building, an official team visited the site on March 6. The Dishank software revealed that the college had encroached on 23 cents of poramboke land in Survey No. 47/1A1, and filled it with soil. A detailed mahzar (examination) was done on March 10 and a police complaint was lodged on March 17.

Surathkal police have registered a case of alleged riverbed encroachment against the ‘partners’ of A. Shama Rao Foundation in Mangaluru that runs Srinivas College at Mukka.

The First Information Report (FIR) was registered under Section 192A of the Karnataka Land revenue Act, 1964 that prescribes punishment, among other things, for unlawful entry into any government land with the intention of holding that government land, on a complaint by Surathkal Revenue Inspector N.G. Prasad.

Mr. Prasad has named Srinivas Rao and other ‘partners’ of Shama Rao Foundation as the accused.

On getting information that the promoters of Srinivas College had encroached on parts of 4.11 acres of poramboke (community) land of Nandini river for construction of a building, an official team visited the site on March 6. Prima facie, the Dishank software revealed that the college had encroached on 23 cents of poramboke land in Survey No. 47/1A1, and filled it with soil. A detailed mahzar (examination) was done on March 10 and a police complaint was lodged on March 17, Mr. Prasad said.

Officials told The Hindu that the college management has now removed the soil from the encroached land. However, the FIR had to be registered as the management had encroached a river bed, which constitutes government land.

The issue surfaced after Moodbidri MLA Umanath Kotian warned of an agitation if government agencies did not stop pollution of Nandini river via sewage being dumped by a medical college and other establishments at Chalairu near Mukka, at the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (Disha) meeting chaired by MP Captain Brijesh chowta in Mangaluru on March 1.

Mr. Kotian had said the Khandevu, a socio-religious fish hunting festival associated with Khandevu Nemotsava of the nearby Dharamasaru Kshetra, had come to a halt following the massive pollution of Nandini river and the consequent growth of weed and hyacinth. Though he had been raising the issue for the past seven years, government agencies did nothing to prevent the flow of sewage, he had said.