Pics: Umesh Marpalli

Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (UM/RJP)

Udupi, Apr 1: A protest was held by villagers of Shivapura Kalmanda complaining about the presence of crusher in the area. The protest was led by Udaya Shetty.

The petition addressed to the chief minister of Karnataka was delivered to the deputy commissioner here on Thursday, Mar 31.

The petition says that the stone crusher, owned by Prasanna Mooda of Mookambika crusher, functions day and night in the village. The sound of the crusher as well the explosion of rocks has caused sound pollution in the area. The land, because of the presence of crusher, has become barren and the poor small farmers have come to the state of committing suicide.

The crusher business has been going on from 20 years on survey no 176. A protest was held under the leadership of Ashok Shetty in 2009 and another protest was held under the leadership of former panchayat president Sundar Hegde in 2012. But crusher business has not stopped. Vadiraja Acharya had complained to the Lokayuktha and Subhash Adi, Upalokayuktha, visited the site on 27 may 2015 and ordered to stop the business citing the reason that the licence was not renewed. He also observed about the damage done to the walls and disturbances experienced by villagers. The crusher, which stopped operating for two months, started functioning after that for which the owner of the crusher used money power.’ The petition reads.


‘The roads and bridges in the area have been damaged due to the crusher in addition to the movement of vehicle above 10 tonnes. Children fear to go to school because of sound of the crusher. A complaint was given to Hebri police station and the police submitted a report on 06-04-2015 to deputy commissioner after visiting the village and interviewing the affected people. But no order has come so far in the matter. Shivapura gram panchayat had decided on 22-08-2016 not to issue business licence permission to Mookambika crusher. A public awareness programme was also held at Shivapura bus stand and requests were given to PDO and president of gram panchayat on the same. The deputy commissioner on 15-11-2015 had promised that even if 30 houses existed within the radius of 500 meters from the crusher, it will be closed. Officials from concerned departments have said in reports that 37 houses are situated within a radius of 500 meters from the crusher and they have also mentioned about the cracks developed in the said houses.’ petition reads.

The petition says that if no action is taken within a month, they will resort to indefinite strike.

Bhoja, Nathu, Korapulu, Sanjeeva Shetty Ashok Shetty and others were present during the protest.