Udupi: UPCL Pipe Bursts Again – Saline Water Enters Houses, Fields
News & Pics: Chethan Padubidri
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)
Udupi, Sep 1: As if to add to the utter frustration of the people, who have for long been facing innumerable problems because of the release of untreated saline water mixed with coal dust into their fields and canals by Udupi Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL), the pipeline of UPCL burst for the fifth time on Tuesday August 31 by the side of national highway 17 at Yermal Tenka village near Padubidri.
As a result, saline water from the pipe gushed out from the pipeline, inundated hundreds of acres of agricultural fields nearby, turning them slushy and saline. The water also entered the house of Padmanabha Acharya and some other located near the spot. The pipe had developed leakages at this spot in the past too, about a dozen times.
Because of frequent leakages from this pipeline, a house belonging to Timmu, a dalit woman has partially collapsed. The ire of the people has turned towards the district administration and other departments, who have been found to be doing nothing to stop the company from carelessly heaping miseries on the people. It is generally felt that improper, unscientific execution of pipeline work is the cause for frequent leakages and bursting of the pipeline.
The hot, saline water being discharged by the company and water mixed with coal dust released by it have been playing havoc with the lives and means of the villagers of Ulloor, Kemmandelu, Kolachoor, Naindikoor and several other villages located around the thermal power plant of UPCL. The people are tired of waiting for the administration to act, and their protests have not got the desired response. Therefore, they are planning to ensure that their next protest programme will have a definite impact on the company, and pressurize it to take remedial steps.