Daijiworld Media Network-Udupi (RJP)

Udupi, Jun 22: Udupi is among the 189 cities that will have independent passport offices in the country.

Till now, people from Udupi district had to go to Mangaluru passport office for their passport related work. Mangaluru office has been servicing Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Kodagu, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts. As people from all these districts come to Mangaluru, the office is always crowded and it takes days to get the work done at times. As Udupi will have its own passport office soon, the people from the district do not have to go to Mangaluru for their passport work.

It is gathered that the Udupi passport office will have a tie up with postal department. But till now Udupi post office has not received any communication regarding this matter. A space of 1000 square feet is required for the office. It is believed that within three months, the passport office will be seen functioning.

Hassan, Davanagere, Belagavi, Kalburgi and Mysuru in the state will also have independent passport offices. All these offices will open before Udupi does.

Presently Udupi postal zone has only Udupi and Kundapur taluks while Karkala comes under Puttur zone. It is not yet known whether Karkala taluk will be included in the zone for passport service purposes or not.