FIR: DC warning hears no ears

9:48 PM Posted by ukmad




Mr. M E Shivalingmurthy the Deputy Commissioner of Belgaum on 11th September 2007 had warned the various LPG Gas dealers in the city to assure timely delivery of LP gas cylinders. He had in very strong words warned the officials of the oil companies to see that the waiting time is reduced and the load of 300 cylinders is the waiting list the dealer will have to have. The DC had categorically mentioned that the 21 days waiting time for booking should be scrapped and also asked the companies from where this rule has been imposed.

But these dealers all have deaf ears. Nothing has happened still. I tired to see the truth. I was told I cant book a new cylinder within 21 days of I had got one. So if I have got a cylinder on 1 October I can book a new one only after 22 October and when I book then also the waiting period is another 10- 18 days.

So what can a common man with a single cylinder do? Kerosene is Rs.35 per liter and that also you don’t get readily. If the cylinder is over he/she will have to wait for another one to come for 30 days. Tough in some instances under hand warming can yield you a cylinder in 3-4 days but the warming fees range from Rs.50 – 100 as per your need. One more new thing is the write some number of the cylinder and when the gas dealer comes with the refill cylinder he asks for the same cylinder he had given to you a month back or so. So if you had taken somebody else’s cylinder then he cant get a new one till he gives his old one. What a mess?

My only point is these oil companies don’t hear to the DC then what will they hear to a common man. We all face the same things and just keep quiet. Now is the time we all need to come out of this paradigm.

A request to all those whose relatives or parents still stay in Belgaum kindly ask them the situation how it is in this case? Kindly give comments on this.
These are comments I have received on this topic, I thought they need a mention in this story:
1) This issue needs to be raised as the government is also involved in creating this fake shortage as the oil companies want the rates to be raised.I assure you that once the cylinder rates are raised you will find the supply come to normal.why does this happen only in Congress government tenure,Whereas in times of BJP goverment the gas agents were behind us to give new connections.Dont you think that there is something fishy in this.
2) It's the same fate, as I was there in Bgm couple of weeks back..I wanted a refill of gas cylinder but was denied coz I did not book any cylinder in past 90days. Officials asked me to give a letter for non usage of gas for those 90 days – huh it my cylinder I will use it or not why do I have to explain my non usage??? Oil companies are taking the advantage & harassing the common man. Waiting period is min. > 15 days after booking. But I got it in 1 day after shelling out 150 to the delivery chap. Time is not too far where we would get gas in pipes at our door steps by Reliance. These oils companies pressurized the govt. not to grant permission to Reliance as it would hamper their money making business. I hope time changes for the better of belgaumites!!

Voternama: Marathi 30 others 28

7:43 AM Posted by ukmad

Belgaumites all the results are out and the the mandate given by you fellow belgaumites is this.
Marathi Speaking 30 members and others 28 (others include 6 from the Sarvapaksha Sarvabhashik Chunavana Samitiand other kannada & urdu speaking candidates)

As on paper the power will land into the hands of the Marathi people but nothing can be said as its a number game. The majority required is 29 Marathi's have 30 as of date if horse trading doesn't happen this may continue or else the others might get the chance.

In all the political situation everywhere is a hung situation with no clear cut result.

The best part of this election is the Corporation will see 47 newly first timers and which is a good sign. 6 former (Mayors & dy.Mayors) could not get elected this time.
The highest margin of defeat was in ward No.17 Pandhari Parab won by a difference of over 1000 votes and the lowest defeat margin was 7 votes.

One more most important message the Belgaum corporation election has given is that all over the sate the candidates filed nominations under their respective national and state parties where as Belgaum was the only one corporation where all were independents. The politics in Belgaum is different that's what I can say.

New comers welcomed by Voters

8:48 PM Posted by ukmad

It’s a number game

Now that all results are out, the majority has been Marathi Speaking but the problem in coming to power will be the number of Marathi Candidates being elected as independents. Out of the 20 official candidates the MES had given 14 have won. They had supported another 6 candidates and 3 have won so the MES has now strength of 17 still short of the 29 magical figure. The total Marathi speaking strength is 27 just two away form majority. There are other marathi speaking corporators who will decide the faith. The four time mayor Shambaji Patil has won the most prestigious seat made by the MES and he could be the king maker like Devegowda in Belgaum in the days to come. For the past years he has been the king maker and this time also his may decide the fate of the Belgaum Corporation. Now no doubt Marathi speaking have come but my guess they will not get the taste of power this time.
No doubt the Marathi speaking candidates have won but the horse trading business will be there for thje post of Mayor.
Ward No./Winners
1 Natraj Narayan Lohar 2 Aruna Anil Kutre 5 Gaurish Kammar
6 Smabhaji Chaavan 7 Kiarn Parab 8 Ravindra Mirajkar
11 Viakrant Kagaangui 12 nilkanrt mastmardi 15 smabhaji Patil 16 vijay patil
17 pandari parab 18 Balasheb Kakatkar 21 netaji Jadhav 22 ravi dhotre 25 sanjay prabhu
26 jayashree pise 31 lata patil 32 shubahngi chitragar 35 muzaamil doni
37 Firdos Darga 38 Devendra haval 41 Vidya Mali 42 Santur Shetty
46 Jagdish Chimmanlagi 47 Yunus Momin
51 Mohd.Azim 55 Bassapa Chikkaladni 56 Gangavva Daddi

Counting begins late: MES will make it?

11:21 AM Posted by ukmad

At 4pm the second round of counting has just begun. in the first round of 27 wards the MES have been able to get 11 seats and another 4 marathi speaking people have won. Only 6 Kannada speaking people have won and 2 Urdu speaking people have won. The other group made by all the various political parities only Sambhaji Patil has been able to Win.

The Marathi people have given their verdict in favour of marathi people it seems from the first phase of counting. All the results of the remaining wards is expected by 8 pm.

The counting which had to begin at 8 am it began at 9 am. The counting process is slow.

Vidya Mali From ward no.41
Santur shetty from ward No.43 wins against Shivaji Suthnkar
Ward No.5 Girish Kammar wins
Ward No.38 Devendra Haval
Sambhaji Patil has won from ward No.15 by a margin of 514 votes against Vijay More.
Ward No.6 Sambhaji Chavan wins
Ward No.32 Shubhangi chitragar wins
Ward No.35 Muzzamil doni wins
Ward No.17 Pandhari Parab

Voternama: Peaceful 60% voting

9:50 PM Posted by ukmad

All the fate of the 354 candidates contesting for the 57 wards (one has been elected unopposed) of the Belgaum Corporation has been now kept inside the ballot boxes in the B.K.Model School, near Chandan Cinema, Camp.

The counting will take place on Sunday and if something has to happen it will happen on Sunday. The voting was mostly peaceful with one incident of snatching ballot papers in Khadak Galli being reported and some lathi charge in old Vadgaon area. The turnout was about 60% and the higher class wasn’t seen voting this time as many said they never know which is their ward and where they have to go for voting. The few that came were discouraged when they did not find their names on the roll.

The most important fight on which all eyes are on is ward No.15. It’s Ex-mayor Vs Ex-mayor. Sambhaji Patil Vs Vilas More. More is the same Ex-mayor who was mishandled by Kannada activists last year in Bangalore. Huge police force was in the ward but all went very peacefully there.

Now we will wait till Sunday…

Voternama

10:01 AM Posted by ukmad



For the first time I have seen such hoardings in Belgaum. Tarun Bharat has put them up but I just want to tell you all that this kind of campaigning is being seen for the first time in our city. These pictures are of two hoardings put up in the city may be another few also exist but I came across these and I thought this would be a good thought for all. The first picture is from Tarun Bharat the same hoarding must be put somewhere but I could not locate it. One vote can make a change so come lets vote! As I have already written in my earlier blogs, vote for a candidate not for he being marathi or kannada but for what he would do for you after he or she is elected. Anyways I will surely vote on 28th and if possible will get you some pictures of voting also. So come out and make a change.
Vote for Democracy its your right & duty also. Don’t forget to take anyone identity proof with you while you go for voting any ID proof will do. Use of Voter ID card is not made compulsory so all those who don’t have it (I also don’t have) can also vote in this election.

Buried memories of the last session

11:50 AM Posted by ukmad





If, I am correct with my memory it was last year on this very day, which was termed as a historic day for Belgaum. All have buried their memories I believe in the present situation when India has won the T20 world cup, Ganesha has just left yesterday and the election are a couple of days away.

I am talking about the Special Legislature session that was held in the city at the Jirge Hall of JNMC College. The session was held here for 5 days. The aura of glory and festivity then prevailed in the city as trees were planted on the dividers of the roads, street lights were put up new roads were built. But it’s just a year away and nobody even remembers it. I guess only The Hindu has written about it in its paper today.

The foundation stone for the Suwarna vidhan Soudha was put in the last month but nothing has happened after that stone laying ceremony there. Infact I had raised the same question when I started this blog why such a hurry?

When asked a few people around, nobody remembered. They said no doubt one year has passed and the fact that nobody remembers it, by this only you can understand the importance of it. It was a political stunt then and stunts are to be treated as stunts.

Ganpati still on their journey

10:46 AM Posted by ukmad

Its 9 am of 26th September, it has been 17 hours for the Ganesh visarjan procession and still 7 ganeshas are in the waiting for their number to take the dip in the water.
All was peaceful and the police must now be taking a good days sleep before they get ready for another job the Belgaum muncipal election on the 28th.

Ganpati Bappa Morya ! Phudchya Varshi Lavkar ya

9:28 PM Posted by ukmad

Its 4 hours since the procession began and now the 26th Ganpati has just passed the Hutatma Chowk. There are another 100 in line so it will be tomorrow morning 8am for the last Ganpati to be immersed into Kapileshwar tirth.

The excitement is hitting the highest point at this time with a many many people around 150 people per mandal are present. And of course the on lookers are in huge lots waiting on the side watching this magnificent galore. The Zanjh and the Dhol are in great sound all over with a few Dolby systems also. In all its a great time to be in between as its night and petrol has gone inside the stomach and now its just the energy coming out.

FIR:Ganesh Visarjan 2007

5:56 PM Posted by ukmad

Ganesha Visarjan procession began at 5 pm at the Hutatma Chowk, Belgaum. I am uploading this pictures @ 5.57pm this is the fatest I could have done. hope you all like it. The rain has taken a break and thats a very good sign.

FIR: Big Bazaar Belgaum

3:11 PM Posted by ukmad

This is new series I am starting.

FIR. First Investigation Report. The first one is Big Bazaar.

The place is built ok but parking is huge problem to begin with. About 10 cars can park in front and all the two wheelers have to be parked on either side of the road. The first impression is the last impression so, be careful while getting into the Big Bazaar as the concrete slabs are uneven and the rains have added fun to it, as you step on one it might just splash some water, it happened with me today.

Now the inside, the same as any other store of the chain. 54000 sq feet is a good place for some walking around. Nothing very spectacular at the entrance or so. The goods are placed in a nice manner as it is normally done elsewhere. I did ask a couple of Belgaumites as to what they liked most they said nothing great but all is in one place and seeing all in one place for a Belgaumite in Belgaum is for the first time. I could see a host of college going students who used to sit in the canteen otherwise was using this new bazaar as their playground. Many school students were also seen inside in groups as the schools were left of early keeping in mind the Gansesha visarjan Procession. About the goods I cant comment all have seen elsewhere the same goods are here also. There was not much rush today being Tuesday also but I did find a lot of businessmen (including me) using their weekly holiday to see the new chap on the street.

It’s a new hangout and as its new to Belgaumites the new hangout will do good and brisk business for sure as anyone who goes in, even me for that instance came out buying a water seat.

Chak De! India

10:02 PM Posted by ukmad



Yes India won the match and all over Belgaum theres a huge celebration going on. Crackers are being fired all over the place. Fuys in groups are going around shouting "Bharat Mata ki Jai" "Ganpati bappa Morya". The celebration is in the air. As the elections are also near all the Aspirants have given good support for their followers to celebrate by giving them huge amount crackers and you know what else is needed at this kind of a time.
I just got this Snap when i was going home.
Enjoy !!!!!!!!!!!!

Police on high alert

11:23 AM Posted by ukmad

Tomorrow is Anant Chaturdashi and as usual the police is taking no chances this time also. On a few occasions this procession had seen some untoward incidents in the past.

More than 3000 police officials are in the city for this and they include from all the ranks of the police. The whole procession will be in camera and for the same 60 cameras will be used. Not only these but there will be even hidden cams this time to catch those mischievous people. The police have banned the use of Dolby systems for the procession and hence this year we could see a lot of Dhols, tashas and Band parties for the procession. The procession will begin from the Hutatma Chowk (Kaveri cold drinks) and will go from Ramdev Galli, Samadevi Galli, Ramling Khind Galli (Kapeel theatre road), Tilak chowk, Tashildar Galli, Kapileshwar Road and will end at the Kapiltirth (opp.Kapileshwar temple). The procession time is set to be 4 pm but I guess it will start by 5.30 as usual and will end only the next day around 7 am, as there will be 345 Ganeshas that will have to be immersed.

As this time its election time, the various mandals I guess will be full of funds for food and drinks. (Both cold & hot)

GANPATI BAPPA MORYA! PHUDCHYA VARSHI LAVKAR YA!

Belgaum Ganesh Darshan

11:42 AM Posted by ukmad



AD Ganesha chi Jai!

The picture is self-explanatory. This is the only one saw that has advertisements not only on the outside but also next to the Ganesh idol. No decoration nothing just the ADs.

Is this correct? And above that the ganesh mandal has collected the donations from various business establishments. I just hate this kind of commercialization. A few years ago the Gutkha ads were seen all over the place near the pandal but now all have stopped that except this mandal at Hutatma Chowk (Kaveri cold drinks).

Vote for UkMaD! Vote for UkMaD!

12:04 PM Posted by ukmad

Fellow Belgaumites, by no means I am standing for the current Belgaum Municipal elections. But as yesterday ended and 82 aspirants withdrew their nominations now 389 aspirants will fight each other for the 57 wards and Vote for someone will be the shout of the week I guess.

Only in one ward the fight is one to one and all over else its 8 – 9 minimum with 15 being maximum in one ward. The campaigning will begin from today as only 7 days remain for polling on the 28th.

This time the election to the Belgaum Corporation is becoming a question of pride for the Karnataka Govt & also the Kannada speaking groups. Normally Belgaum is dived into three, Marathi speaking, Kannada speaking and Urdu speaking. The Urdu speaking community normally lends its hands to the Congress or other parties but basically go with the Kannada speaking lot. So the fight is straight again. For so many years since the formation of the Belgaum Corporation the Marathi speaking people have had their say almost all the time.

With Belgaum being declared the second capital this time it will be a prestigious fight for the Kannadaigas and for the same cause all major parties such as the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Janata Dal (Secular) have joined hands with Kannada and Urdu-speaking lot and formed “Sarvapaksha Sarvabhashik Chunavana Samithi (SSCS) under the leadership of district in-charge Minister Shashikant Naik with the sole intention of getting to power.

Now this is opportunist politics, all parties come together to fight what marathi speaking people. One more thing is, why this time all fear that they might loose hence the yare forming an alliance. But friends, will this help us in way, I say a BIG NO. But we cant cry over this either the same thing is happening in the Delhi so, Yatha Raja Tatha Praja.

I just make a request all those who will be here please vote and vote for a person who will work for you (the voters) and not for him.

BIG BAZAAR is doing BIG business and the parking done on the Khanapur road is causing some problems for traffic also.