Chikkamagaluru: When Ajjampura taluk was carved by previous Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Chikkamagaluru, the long pending demand seeking status tag for Kalasa was ignored but now the residents look forward to new Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to fulfill his assurance made to voters to create Kalasa taluk out of Mudigere taluk in Chikkamagaluru for a better connect between officials concerned and people.
Chikkamagaluru district has Mudigere, Chikkamagaluru, Sringeri, Narasimharaja Pura, Koppa, Tarikere, Kadur and newly created Ajjampura as taluks while a demand for Kalasa taluk has been pending since 1970s. Spearheading the movement demanding taluk status for Kalasa, Manjappaiah, a resident, says the demand is legitimate since residents will have to travel about 64-km from Kalasa town to reach taluk headquarter Mudigere for administrative works and Mudigere is geographically vast in area. Residents in remote parts of Kalasa will have to cover about 100-km to Mudigere. “Reaching Mudigere takes away an entire day for the residents,” he says and adds that there is no link between officials concerned and residents of Kalasa. If Tahsildhar and other officials concerned are available at close proximity then, residents will have easy access and can get things done without middlemen. To add to the woes of the residents, Manjappaiah says, Kalasa is a hilly region and nearly 40 per cent of Kalasa population lives in hills and they are waiting for regularization of lands and houses.
