The district unit of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) has urged the district administration to hold a meeting of the expert committee set up to go into the issues of alleged pollution caused by the coal-based thermal plant of Udupi Power Corporation (UPCL) at Padubidri in Udupi district.
In a memorandum submitted at the Deputy Commissioner's office here, president of the district unit of KRRS Vijaykumar Hegde said that it was difficult for the people in the villages affected by the UPCL plant to come all the way to Udupi. Besides, it was difficult to arrange food for them. The hall at the Deputy Commissioner's office, where the meeting of the committee, twice scheduled to be held, was small to accommodate people from the villages. Hence, it should be held in Padubidri.
People of the villages wanted to narrate their health problems which they were suffering owing to the alleged pollution from the thermal plant. They wanted to explain the damage to their crops and wells. But the KRRS had learnt that some vested interests had hired people to give a misleading picture about the thermal plant.
The district administration had twice postponed the meeting without giving any credible reason. This disappointed people from the affected villages.
Vishwesha Tirtha Swamiji of Pejawar Math recently said that the thermal plant should not be allowed to operate until all pollution-related problems were solved. The KRRS endorsed this stand, the memorandum said.
