Mangaluru: Former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday visited Pachenady village in the city which has been under the garbage after the local dump yard slumped it into the village, causing distress and property loss to various families.

Siddaramaih who is on his visit to Dakshina Kannada to meet the flood victims at flood affected places of the District visited Pachenady after arriving in the city at 11 am on Saturday. The former CM headed towards Pachenady from the Mangaluru International Airport amidst tight security.

Upon reaching the village the senior Congress leader met and interacted with the locals and affected families at Pachenady and assured them of demanding immediate solution of the issue from the state government.

Siddaramaiah while speaking to the affected residents said that he will call on the state government to either clear the village of all the garbage or acquire the land completely and provide adequate compensation to all the owners of the land.

“We will demand the government should either clear the mess or it should acquire the land and pay compensation to all the land owners. Houses should be built for all those who have lost their houses here or they should be given a separate monthly compensation of Rs. 10,000 for as house rent” Siddaramaiah said.

“If the government clears the village of all the mess, it should also build a retaining wall, make sure the water in the locality is not contaminated and should ensure every safety measure is checked. But for the government it is better to acquire the land and convert it into dump yard after paying compensation to the people” Siddaramaiah said.

Ullal MLA and former minister U T Khader, former minister B Ramanath Rai, MLC Ivan D’souza, Dakshina Kannada Youth Congress President Mithun Rai and others were also present along with Siddaramaiah during his visit.

Officials of Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) including Commissioner Mohammed Nazeer briefed the former CM about the conditions.

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New Delhi (PTI): The Election Commission has come out with a new protocol for handling and storage of symbol loading units following the directions of the Supreme Court which had ordered that the machines should be sealed and secured in a container and stored in a strongroom along with the EVMs at least for 45 days post the declaration of results.

In a statement on Wednesday, the poll authority said all state chief electoral officers have been directed to create necessary infrastructure and provisions to implement the new protocols for handling and storage of the symbol loading units (SLUs).

"As mandated by the Supreme Court, the revised protocols are applicable in all cases of completion of the symbol loading process in the VVPATs undertaken on or after May 1, 2024," the Commission said.

The top court had on Friday last issued directions to seal and store symbol loading units and also paved the way for verification of micro-controllers embedded in the electronic voting machines (EVMs) on the request of the candidates who stand second and third in the elections.

The SLU uploads the name and symbol of the candidates contesting on a particular seat on VVPAT or paper trail machines.

So far, the EVMs and VVPAT slips were stored for 45 days post results. In these 45 days following the declaration of an election result, people can file an election petition in the concerned high court challenging the election. The EVM and VVPAT slips can be called by the court while hearing the plea.

Before the Supreme Court order, the SLUs were handed over to local poll officials by the engineers of BEL or ECIL.

A day after the poll, the SLUs were returned to the engineers of the two public sector units who manufacture the ballot unit, the control unit and the VVPAT along with SLUs.

A few years ago, a feature was added which helped the candidates or their representatives see the symbol loading process on a TV monitor. The feature was added to enhance transparency.