Mangaluru: Former MLA J R Lobo has announced that he would retire from active politics, if Mangaluru South MLA D Vedavyas Kamath proves that the work done under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environmental Management Project (KUDCEMP) were of substandard quality. 

He was responding to the recent statement by MLA Vedavyas Kamath that Lobo was responsible for the drinking water problems in Mangaluru city as the works done under the KUDCEMP was not up to the desired standards.

He said that district administration is forced to resort to water rationing now because of the poor quality work done under KUDCEMP.

Responding to this, Lobo challenged the MLA and said that he was ready to participate in an open discussion on this issue with Vedavyas Kamath and any other experts and if the MLA succeeds to prove his allegation, he will resign from active politics. 

“I am ready to retire from active politics if he proves his point,  but is he ready to do the same if he fails to prove the same, ” asked Lobo and added that though Rs 170 crore was earmarked for the first phase of the KUDCEMP, it was reduced to Rs 110 crore as the then MLAs, MPs and MCC members urged to keep Rs 41 crore for drainage connection, from the total fund. 

“Due to this, providing water connections to every family was not be possible. The paucity of funds also prevented us from changing the old PVC pipeline of around 4000 kilometre to provide water to the public. With the available fund, only 750 kilometres of new water pipeline was installed, which was the reason for present drinking water problems,” he clarified and added that leakage in water pipeline is another reason for the crisis.

“Around 30 per cent water is lost due to leakage in old PVC pipeline. If the total amount of Rs 170 crore was made available for water connections, the scenes would have been different. Unaware of these facts, Kamath is indulging into spreading false allegation against me”, he informed.

New vented dam proposal sanctioned by HDK,  not BSY

Meanwhile, Lobo clarified that the proposal of the new vented dam in Thumbe was not sanctioned by former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa as claimed by Kamath, but it was sanctioned by H D Kumaraswamy in the year 2007. “The MLA must verify his facts before speaking, ” Lobo said.

Congress leaders Bhaskar K, A C Vinayraj, Purushotham Chithrapur, Naveen D’Souza, Sudheer T K among others were present.