With addition of Kushalnagar and Ponnampet, the hill district will now have five taluks

Madikeri/ Mysuru: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy yesterday announced the formation of Kushalnagar and Ponnampet taluks in Kodagu following the Cabinet’s decision conceding the long-pending demand of the people of the hill district. The two new taluks carved out will be Cauvery Taluk from Kushalnagar and Ponnampet Taluk in the South.

With this, Kodagu will have five taluks, the other three being Madikeri, Virajpet and Somwarpet. The CM made this announcement at a programme organised for allotting houses to the displaced tribals of Diddahalli, at Basavanahalli, near Kushalnagar. He also launched a slew of development works at a cost of Rs. 2,146 crore.

House keys handed over to displaced tribals

A sum of Rs. 50 lakh would be released to each newly-formed taluk in the first stage for establishing basic infrastructure. On the occasion, the CM symbolically handed over keys of houses built for the displaced tribals of Diddahalli, who were evacuated from the Devamachi reserve forests.

Kumaraswamy said the people affected by last year’s floods and landslips need not worry as the government was committed to rehabilitating them. He directed the Deputy Commissioner to consult experts and explore precautionary steps to be taken in the wake partially collapsed hills before the onset of monsoon.

Kodagu District Minister S.R. Mahesh said the CM had visited Kodagu district six times since he assumed office and argued that the government was completely with the people of Kodagu.

Kodagu flood: Rs. 5 lakh to Manjula’s parents

On the occasion, the Chief Minister handed over a cheque for Rs. 5 lakh to the parents of Manjula, a student, who was feared dead in the landslips at Jodupala last year. MLAs K.G. Bopaiah, Appachu Ranjan and others were present.

About Ponnampet taluk

Ponnampet in South Kodagu is a main cultural centre in the district. Earlier, it was under the jurisdiction of Virajpet. Barring a Tahsildar’s office, all other taluk offices are situated at Ponnampet. The Court, Treasury, Taluk Panchayat Office, PWD Office, Offices of Social Welfare Department, Department of Backward Classes, Horticulture, Nada Kacheri and others are situated at Ponnampet.

Villagers from Balele, Nittoor, Karmadu, Kutta, Birunani, Parakatageri and Theralu had to travel 50-km to 60-km to reach taluk headquarters of Virajpet for any work. The proposed Ponnampet taluk will include Ponnampet Hobli, Balele, and Srimangala, Hudikeri Hobli, 21 Gram Panchayats and 49 villages. Ponnampet taluk will have 2,23,507 acres of geographical.

About Cauvery taluk

A new Cauvery Taluk will be carved out comprising Kushalnagar that was earlier under the Somwarpet Taluk. It was the dream of former Chief Minister late R. Gundu Rao to form Cauvery Taluk way back in 1993.

Kushalnagar has the offices of DySP, Circle Inspector, First Grade College, Polytechnic College, industrial layout at Kudlooru, Sports School at Koodige, DIET, Training Centre for Forest Officials, Offices of the Department of Agriculture, Sericulture and APMC. Recently, Court, Government Engineering College, Kodagu Sainik School, PG Centre of Mangalore University at Chikkaluvara and a Sub-Registrar’s Office was set up in Kushalnagar.

12 NEW TALUKS

1. Harohalli in Ramanagara

2. Cheluru in Chikkaballapura

3. Teradala in Bagalkot

4. Kalasa in Chikkamagalur

5. Ponnampet in Kodagu

6. Kushalnagar in Kodagu

7. Alamela in Vijayapura

8. Mulki in Dakshina Kannada

9. Ullal in Dakshina Kannada

10. Saligrama in Mysuru

11. Shantigrama in Hassan

12. Yaragatti in Belagavi