Report by Michael Rodrigues
Team Mangalorean Udupi
Pics by Anil Alva Moodubelle
 
Udupi: St Lawrence church in Belle, short for Moodubelle, is a religious centre for visiting Catholic devotees  from far and near to pay respect to their most-trusted saint there. 

In a novel manner, the gram, taluk and zilla panchayats may as well hold kind of a sport in front of St Lawrence church, for drivers to drive past without splashing mire or mud at anyone's body or face or soiling the clothes of passersby.  

This may sound like a joke. But it is true that during rainy days, the visiting devotees have their clothes splashed with muddy water as the vehicles zoom past. The front part of the church is a meeting point for many roads like Udupi-Moodubelle ; Karkala road ; Moodubelle-Pernankila-Hiriyadka Road and a few inners lane and roads leading the parishioners to the church.

The Moodubelle panchayath itself is the perpetrator of such an unbearable sight that has been created here.  This has been brought to its notice and all the reqeusts have gone unheeded.   Within a distance of  100 to 200 metres, there is the gram panchayat office, and places of stay of gram, taluk and zilla panchayat members, who keep watching this pitiable sight every day. The panchayat collects cess tax from the shop-owners and citizens, but they take no measures to find a solution to problems harassing the public on this arterial road.  

Of late, a few youths took an initiative for clearing up the drainage. under the leadership of Henry Alva, a social activist.  Zilla panchayat member Ida Gibba D'Souza, gram panchayat president Jacintha Aranha and gram panchayat officer Hithalamani appeared on the scene of action.

The question now is, will at least now some solution or action plan be set rolling? The public are eagerly waiting for something to happen in the near future.