Karwar Naval museum no more in ship-shape

naeem@coastaldigest.com (CD Network)
August 7, 2011

naval

Karwar, August 7: INS?Chapal, the museum ship docked at the Rabindranath Tagore beach since November 2006, is slowly disintegrating part by part due to lack of proper maintenance.

In view of the Naval Base being set up in Karwar, the Defence Ministry handed over the missile boat to the district administration.

Commissioned by the Indian Navy in 1976 and decommissioned in 2005, INS?Chapal patrolled the Indian sea coast. The 245-tonne ship (on full load) has a length of 38.6 metres, beam of 7.6 metres and speed of 37 knots.

Ship rusting

The task of maintaining the museum ship was vested in the Bal Bhavan Committee under the chairmanship of the deputy commissioner. But negligence on the part of the Bal Bhavan, has left the ship rusting.

Exposed to constant heat and rain, the ship has started leaking and water is seeping into the engine room, control room, radar room, kitchen and commander's room, and the equipment inside them are rusting.

As the Bal Bhavan Committee does not have enough funds for the maintenance of the museum ship, it was handed over to the district administration on July 12. With the available funds, the administration has managed to cover the ship with a plastic cover.

Visitors to the ship museum have to pay an entrance fee. It has been estimated that over the last six years about Rs 25 lakh has been collected as entrance fees.


Except for spending money on cleaning the garden around the museum and staff salaries, no other expenditure has been made.

The ship is an object of study for students of mechanical and electrical engineering from engineering colleges and polytechnics.

Video presentation

Visitors to the museum are treated to a video presentation on the big screen which is informative and gives details of the Indo-Pak conflict of 1971, when INS Chapal destroyed the Karachi harbour beyond recognition forcing Pakistan to surrender.

However, the video presentations have been cancelled for the four months after the projector developed a glitch and no efforts are being made to repair it.

Vinay, a visitor to the museum ship, was disappointed that he could not see the ship as it is now covered with plastic. “I had come with great enthusiasm only to be disappointed”, he said.

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News Network
May 8,2025

SofiaQuraishi.jpg

Belagavi: Colonel Sofia Qureshi who along with Wing Commander Vyomika Singh presented the details of ‘Operation Sindoor’ is being hailed as the daughter-in-law of Karnataka’s Belagavi.

Qureshi's husband Colonel Tajuddin Bagewadi is from Konnur town in Gokak taluk. He has been serving as a colonel in the Indian Army. They were married in 2015.

Qureshi is a native of Baroda in Gujarat, being married to Tajuddin has made her the daughter-in-law of Belagavi.

During a media meet at New Delhi on Wednesday, Qureshi had shared the details of the success of Operation Sindoor which was conducted in retaliation to the terror attack at Pahalgam in Kashmir.

Qureshi has also served in the UN peacekeeping force at Kangola. She has received great appreciation from General Officer Commanding for her work along the borders of Punjab and during the floods in North-East.

Presently Sofia has been posted at Jammu while her husband Colonel Tajuddin Bagewadi at Jhanshi.

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News Network
May 13,2025

Udupi, May 12: A tragic incident unfolded at a wedding in Nandikur, Udupi district, when a four-year-old boy, Vasudeva, drowned in a temple pond near the venue.

According to a police complaint filed by Satyanarayana, 38, a resident of Kurkalu village in Kaup, the child had accompanied his mother, Soumya, and siblings—Vaishnavi (10) and Vishnu Priya (1)—to attend a wedding at the Sri Durgaparameshwari Temple Hall in Nandikur.

At approximately 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, Soumya was feeding her infant daughter inside the hall while Vasudeva remained nearby. After tending to the baby, she stepped away briefly to wash her hands, during which time she noticed that Vasudeva was missing.

A frantic search ensued involving family members and others at the venue. About 15 minutes later, at around 2:15 p.m., Vasudeva was found unresponsive in the temple pond adjacent to the hall. Bystanders pulled him from the water and attempted resuscitation.

He was immediately rushed to a private hospital in Udupi, where doctors declared him dead on arrival. Despite this, the family sought further medical assistance at a hospital in Manipal, but physicians there also confirmed that he had passed away.

The Padubidri police have registered a case and are investigating the incident.

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News Network
May 13,2025

A new chapter is unfolding for football in Mangaluru as the football ground adjacent to Nehru Maidan receives a modern artificial turf, with completion expected by the end of May. This long-awaited upgrade promises to significantly enhance the playing experience for both budding and seasoned footballers in the region.

The project, spearheaded by Mangaluru Smart City Limited (MSCL), involves laying synthetic turf across the 90,000 sq ft ground at a cost of ₹2.5 crore. Equipped with efficient drainage systems, the revamped ground will support uninterrupted play throughout the year, regardless of weather conditions.

“This is a long-pending demand of the football community here,” said D.M. Aslam of the Dakshina Kannada District Football Association. “We expect the turf work to be completed in the next two weeks. Currently, around 150 children practice regularly at the ground, and we anticipate that number to rise once the new surface is open.”

MSCL General Manager (Technical), Arun Prabha K.S., noted that while the project had been planned for some time, groundwork officially began after last year’s monsoon league concluded in August. “Once completed, this facility will be a full-fledged synthetic turf suitable for training, local tournaments, and league matches,” he said.

With the inauguration expected soon after the final touches are completed, the new astro turf is set to elevate the city’s football infrastructure and serve as a springboard for talent development across the district.

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