Udupi: Fields Affected With Saline Water from Nagarjuna – Farmers Protest
News and Pics: Chethan Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Jun 22: The farmers and citizens living near Nagarjuna Power Project, angered by the damage inflicted on their agricultural fields due to the release of hot, saline water by the power plant of Udupi Power Corporation Ltd ( UPCL - formerly Nagarjuna), staged a protest against the company at Ulloor near Padubidri on Monday June 21 evening.

The people of the area had been frustrated by the release of hot, salty water into a waterway running through their fields about a month back too. At that time, the saline water had damaged their fields, and turned several wells useless, as salty water had entered them. The farmers as well as the people, whose wells had been affected, had protested then, and Kaup zone revenue officer, who gathered information from the people from the area about this development, has not done anything to address their grievances, the people rued.

The plant is expected to pump saline water back into the sea. For reasons best known to it, it has often been releasing salty water into the waterway. “I had sown a quintal of paddy seeds in my field. They have now been destroyed. I have lost several thousands of rupees as a result, but no one lends an ear to my problems,” said Shekhar Poojary, an agriculturist from Ulloor village. Farmers living in Yermal, Admar and Padebettu villages, through which the waterway passes through, have faced losses as their seeds have been destroyed, and they probably will not be able to raise any crops in their fields during this season. About 400 acres of agricultural fields have been affected by the recklessness of the company, it is estimated.

JDS district president, Deviprasad Shetty, supported the protestors by participating in the protest. Speaking to reporters, Shetty accused UPCL of importing substandard equipments from China for its plant, and reasoned that the company’s pipelines have developed problems, as they were laid by inexperienced piecemeal contractors. He expressed anger at the peoples’ representatives and officials for not coming to the rescue of the affected people, and not handling the situation with the seriousness it deserves. He warned that the pipelines of the company would be removed with the help of the local people, if such problems recur in future.