Karnataka - Udupi   

Activists vow to oppose thermal plant at Nandikur

By Our Staff Correspondent

UDUPI, JUNE 27. The chief of the Nandikur Janajagriti Samiti, Balakrishna Shetty, said on Saturday that thermal power plants were environmentally unsuitable to Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. The samiti would oppose them in the field and also by taking recourse to the courts, he said.

He told presspersons here that various reputed agencies had stated that coal-based thermal power plants should not be established in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts. The two districts were eco-sensitive. To the West, there was the Arabian Sea and to the East there were the Western Ghats, which were one of the hotspots of bio-diversity. There were 22 rivers flowing in these two districts.

The establishment of a thermal plant would damage the environment. Nowhere in the world was there a coal-based power plant in such a location. To start any industry, the Environment Impact Assessment Report and public hearings were a must.

He said the samiti's moves were clear to the people of the region. The Western Ghats should be declared World Heritage site. Experts from the samiti would meet the Mohan Ram Committee to apprise it of the developments in the region and impress upon it the eco-sensitive nature of the districts. No "red category" industries should be established in the Nandikur region.

He asked why the Nagarjuna company wanted to come to Nandikur when it had nearly 1,000 acres of land at Tokkur near Mangalore, which it had taken to establish a steel plant and a captive power plant. The company had not started any of these projects there. The land at Tokkur was given to the company by the State Government in 1994-95. Although the permission to start those projects had lapsed, the land was still with the company, Mr. Shetty alleged.

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