Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (SP)

Beltangady, Feb 14: Sri Vidyaprasannateertha Swamiji of Subrahmanya Mutt has termed the decision of the government to implement Yettinahole river diversion project as having been taken in haste, without taking the people of the region into confidence. Expressing apprehension that the project will spell doom for Dakshina Kannada district, he predicted that once implemented, it will prove to be a curse for the entire region.

“The government is trying to hoodwink the people by trying to entice the protestors by placing before them an impractical project named ‘Paschima Vahini’.  Let them plan such projects for the people whom they want to serve through Yettinahole river diversion project, and let us be content with River Netravati as it is,” he asserted.

At the same time, former MLA, Vijayakumar Shetty, has asked all the four ministers from the district to resign from the ministry in protest against the said river diversion project. He said that the ministers are bound by a duty to serve their voters, and the best they can do is to leave their posts and join the fight against the project, duly pointing out that  former minister, Janardhan Poojary, minister, Ramanath Rai, and MLAs, J R Lobo and Shakuntala Shetty, have expressed themselves strongly in favour of  leaving River Netravati untouched.

He criticized former chief minister, D V Sadananda Gowda for approving the project, and union minister, Veerappa Moily, for backing the project to the hilt.