Mangalore: Population growth can be kept under check only through awareness and not by means of any law, said MP Nalin Kumar Kateel.

He was delivering the inaugural address of the World Population Day programme organized at the Ravindra Kala Bhavan of University College eon July 26, Thursday.

Dr. Rukmini M, District RCH Officer who also spoke, said Karnataka will have 12 crore 45 lakh people within the next few years, when considering the present population and its growth.

Prizes were distributed  to winners in essay and elocution contest conducted as part of the programme.

Dr. N S Chennappa Gowda, DK Deputy Commissioner, and Dhanalaxmi Janardhana, Vice President, DK Zilla Panchayat, also spoke. Others present were Dr KN Vijayaprkash, Zilla Panchayat CEO and Dr. Laxmi Narayana Bhat, Principal, University College, Mangalore.