Mangaluru: Jaimala, Women and Child Welfare Minister, said on Wednesday that it has been decided to put up fibre gates to vented dams in Udupi district.

Briefing presspersons about the proceedings in the trimonthly Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) meeting here, Ms. Jaimala said that a detailed proposal was being prepared. Wherever required, the panchayats had been told to shut down the gates if the water level in rivulets and rivers was going down. But in some areas, farmers themselves had wanted gates to remain open as there was water overflow, she said.

On the revival of the ailing Brahmavar Cooperative Sugar Factory, it has been decided to call a meeting of farmers and seek their opinion on cultivation of sugarcane in the district. It was after this meeting, that the next step could be contemplated, she said.

To a query, Ms. Jaimala said that a Ranga Mandira would be constructed on one acre of land at Adiudupi here. A theatre institute, Rangayana, would also be established at the same place. There were a lot of theatre artistes and theatre lovers in the district. Adequate funds would be provided for the construction of the Ranga Manidra here, she said.

Asked if any disciplinary action would be taken against Congress workers and a municipal councillor who gheraoed her at the Congress Bhavan here on October 2, Ms. Jaimala said she did not believe in politics of vendetta. She had full faith in Congress workers as they worked with dedication. “I will not say anything more on the issue,” she said.

Replying to a query on instances of ‘ash-rain’ in the district, Priyanka Mary Francis, Deputy Commissioner, said that the district administration had got a report from NITK-Surathkal on the ‘ash-rain’ reported last month. But there was no mention of fly-ash content in the report. Someone had lodged a complaint directly to the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

A scientist from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests also visited the district recently. The scientist had also visited a power project plant in the district in connection to this and the report from the scientist was awaited, she said.