'Take steps to provide basic facilities at abattoir in Kudroli'

Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Mangalore MLA U T Khader has urged the Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) to take suitable steps to maintain cleanliness and basic facilities at the only abattoir in the city that is engaged in slaughtering sheep and goats in Kudroli.

Cleanliness should be maintained as per the guidelines of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB). If basic facilities are not provided, then suitable land should be identified for shifting the abattoir from the present location, said Khader.

“A proposal was prepared for the modernisation of the abattoir when I was the minister. However, the BJP levelled allegations against me and demanded the closure of the abattoir. Though BJP came to power in the council of the Mangaluru City Corporation two years ago, the abattoir continues to function in the same old condition,” he said.

In the interest of the health of the people, the guidelines laid down by the KSPCB should be followed by setting right the loopholes in the present system at the abattoir, he added.

Stating that Opposition leader Siddaramaiah’s statement on seers and hijab has been misinterpreted, Khader said people are being misled over his statement.

The BJP is playing tactics while people are suffering from the rise in the prices of petrol and diesel, he said.

Khader said that Siddaramaiah has great respect for seers.

When Siddaramaiah was the chief minister, not even one seer has staged a protest, he said.

The situation has arisen wherein seers are protesting during the BJP rule in Karnataka. The government has failed to understand the demands of the seers, he added.

Khader said the anti-superstition bill was dropped after the seers said no to it. However, the BJP government notified the anti-superstition act.

It was the Siddaramaiah-led government that hiked the salary of the priests. The BJP government failed to hike it, he said.

The Congress government had increased funds for the maintenance of the temples. What has the BJP government done so far? he asked.

He said as a chief minister Siddaramaiah had released huge grants to the places of worship and challenged the BJP government to release the list of grants released for the religious institutions after they came to power.