Hattiangadi villagers travel 25 km to reach Kundapur Rural police station

Udupi: Kundapur police station was divided into Kundapur Rural and Town police stations two years ago. People of Hattiangadi GP area, which includes three villages Kaniyana, Kenchanooru, Hattiangadi and also Katbelthooru villagers, came under the new station limits. For all these villagers, Kundapur Town station was 13 km away, however, to reach the newly-created Kundapur Rural police station, they need to travel 25 km.
Moreover, the people have to catch two buses to reach the new police station. It is easy to reach Kundapur, but as Kandloor is a rural area, there are less buses here. Though people who have their own vehicles can get to the new station by using a short cut, the poor, aged and women have no choice other than depending on buses. Hence, now the villagers want to be back in the Kundapur station limits.

Rajesh Shetty, Hattiangadi GP president, said, “Kandlooru is a religiously sensitive place, hence a police station here is a must. However, including our gram panchayat in that station limit is a wrong decision. We have to travel about 13 km to reach Kundapur and from there we have to catch another bus for about 12 km to reach the station. The GP has 5,600 voters and to have a police station nearby is our right. We have given a memorandum to the former MLA as well as our current MLA regarding the same. We have also brought the issue to the notice of the Udupi superintendent of police.

“As per officials, every police station should include a minimum number of villagers, hence these villages were included under the jurisdiction of the police station, even if it is far geographically. We have a short cut to reach Kandlooru after crossing a bridge, and the station is another 5 km from there. However, there is no bus service on this route. People who have their own vehicle can get to the police station, however how will the poor and women manage? It is the same with the police too. Constables who come here on their beat patrol, also have to travel a long distance. Changing the existing system may take a long time, and we do not know how to get the work done,” he concluded.

Commenting on the same, SP Laxman Nimbargi said, “The issue has come to my notice, and a proposal on the same will be submitted to the government. We will see what we can do to sort out the issue” .

Kundapur police station had 30 villages under its jurisdiction earlier. In 2017, the new rural police station was formed. Currently, the rural station in Kandoolu has 17 villages under its jurisdiction while the town police station has 12 villages under its jurisdiction.