Niddodi residents petition CM to scrap power plant

August 03, 2013 01:36 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 09:34 pm IST - Mangalore:

Villagers of Niddodi staging a protest against the proposed Thermal Power Project, when representatives of Congress visited the village. File Photo: H.S.Manjunath

Villagers of Niddodi staging a protest against the proposed Thermal Power Project, when representatives of Congress visited the village. File Photo: H.S.Manjunath

Thousands of anxious residents, who believe their lands will be directly or indirectly affected if the proposed 4,000 MW mega thermal power plant is established at Niddodi, have written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asking him to scrap the project.

According to Kiran Manjanbail, convener of the samiti, nearly 2,000 residents from Niddodi and nearby villages of Yedapaduv, Nirude, Puttige, Kateel, Mucchuru, Padu Perar, Mudu Perar and Thenka Yedapadavu have signed the petition.

The Mathrubhoomi Samrakshana Samiti has also sent similar letters to the local MLA, Deputy Commissioner, Prime Minister and the President.

The letter talks of the economic impact on the people of the village, who are largely dependent on agriculture and could be displaced by the project. They have also expounded on the environment cost that the project would wrought on fertile agricultural land.

As prima facie evidence of this, they pointed out the lowering agricultural yields of farmers around Udupi Power Corporation Ltd. in Nandikur, and the probable pollution of the Nandini and other rivers.

Deferred strike

Meanwhile, the samiti has indefinitely deferred the hunger strike planned in Moodbidri on Saturday. Mr. Manjanbail said the samiti, which is spearheading the protests, was waiting for replies for the RTI applications filed on the project details. “It would make no sense for us to carry out protests again with vague details. If we have definite information, we can suitably project our demands,” he said. However, another samiti member said the deferment was a consequence of a recent meeting with Congress leaders that threatened to get violent. “We can’t allow an agitation to get violent. It will take the focus away from us losing our lands,” he said.

Instead, sub-committees are being formed in villages to allow for better control of protesters. “However, whenever an official or a politician comes, we are going to gherao them and question them. We want our anger to be heard, but not in a violent form,” he said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.