The Hindu : Karnataka / Udupi News : 50 families to be evacuated from Yellur-Santhur

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Monday, Jul 19, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Udupi

50 families to be evacuated from Yellur-Santhur

By Our Staff Correspondent

UDUPI, JULY 18. K.S. Balachandra, general manager (Technical) of Nagarjuna Power Corporation Ltd. (NPCL), on Saturday said only 50 families would be evacuated from Yellur-Santhur villages where the company intends to setup a 1015-MW coal-based thermal power project.

He was speaking at an interaction programme organised by the company with about 100 people from Yellur, Nandikur, and surrounding villages here on Saturday.

Mr. Balachandra said the 50 families would be relocated to Belapu village, where they would be provided all facilities. Before evacuating them, 40 acres of land would be purchased from the State Government at Belapu, he added.

NPCL would come up on 650 acres of land at Yellur-Santhur villages, he said and added that there were no places of worship on the identified land. Complete information about the project would be given to the people of Yellur, Santhur, and other villages.

Mr. Balachandra noted that the Government had classified NPCL as a mega project. The company did not want to hide any fact from the people as it would operate in the region for the next 30 years, he said.

The people who attended the interaction meeting said the compensation of Rs. 3 lakh for an acre of wetland and Rs. 2.6 lakh for an acre of dry-land was not enough. They demanded that they be given Rs. 6 lakh for an acre.

Deviprasad Shetty, president of the Belapu Gram Panchayat, observed that the people would be happy if they were given adequate compensation. The company should give an undertaking that all the evacuees would be given permanent jobs, he said.

Most of the other questions asked by the participants related to the use and disposal of seawater.

Sarasu Bangera and Gladys Almeida, members of the Udupi Zilla Panchayat; Narayan Poojary, member of the taluk panchayat; Omayya Poojary, President of the Yermal Gram Panchayat; Shashidhar Hegde, President of the Uchila Gram Panchayat; and Mahim Hegde, President of the Janata Dal (Secular) district unit; were present.

Protest

Meanwhile, the Nandikur Janajagriti Samiti reiterated that it would oppose the setting up of the thermal project in the area.

In a press release issued here, Y. Madhava Shetty, general secretary of the samiti, said his organisation was opposing the project for the sake of people.

Our Mangalore Staff Correspondent writes:

Nagarika Seva Trust, a Guruvayanakere-based non-governmental organisation, has threatened to move the court if the State Government allows NPCL to set up the thermal plant at Yellur-Santhur, ignoring the environmental aspects.

In a press release issued here today, K. Somanatha Nayak, president of the trust, said if the company tried to set up the plant by not adhering to environmental norms, the trust would launch an agitation and explore legal options to prevent NPCL from setting up the plant.

He expressed concern over the reported statement of an official of NPCL that the company would start work on the plant from September.

He said that the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, had recently said that the Government would not permit any company to set up mega industries in the coastal belt without taking the people and their representatives into confidence.

Mr. Nayak sought to know when the company and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board had conducted a public hearing on the setting up of the plant.

The company should make public the environment impact assessment report, he said. The same should be made available in Kannada to all the gram panchayats to be affected by the plant, he said.

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