Mangaluru: The Udupi-Kasaragod 400 KV power transmission line has been blocked by the people as District Administration and the company are planning to implement the same through crossing it over the agricultural lands without protecting the interest of the farmers as it is harmful for agricultural land despite the opposition of the farmers.

President of the Anti-Transmission Line Action Committee Rajeev Gowda Kochodi said that they will hold a massive protest in front of Bantwal Taluk Administration Soudha in B. C. Road under the leadership of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Hasiru Sena State President Kodihalli Chandrashekar.

Addressing a press conference at the Press Club in B. C. Road here, he said that 400 KV has been installed in Dakshina Kannada District. The survey was carried out by the company using satellites and helicopters without giving information about the route through which the line would pass. He said that small and marginal farmers of one acre and half an acre of agricultural land, which the farmers got through the Land Reforms Act in the District, are cultivating it and this power line will lead to the loss of entire agriculture activities by them and they will fall on to the streets, he alleged.

“The entire project on similar lines was shelved as it would affect agricultural land in Kerala. But it is ironic that agricultural land filled with arecanut, coconut, cashew and rubber is being used to pass through the power line in Karnataka. Though the High Court had directed to examine the grievances of the farmers sympathetically, the Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner had asked simply to hold a meeting of the farmers and join hands with the company to listen to them, forcing them to approach the court, he said.

“More than 10,000 trees will be destroyed as the power line passes over forest land, which will severely affect the climate, he noted and alleged that the Government and the District Administration were trying to cover up the matter despite scientific reports that electronic magnet radiations emitted by electric wires could adversely affect the human body and life.

He condemned the attempt to push farmers on to the streets with the intention of benefitting private companies and urged them to leave the farmers’ agricultural land and find an alternative.

Manohar Shetty Nadikambalaguttu, State Secretary of Raitha Sangha Hasiru Sene, Sridhar Shetty, District President, M. Subrahmanya Bhat, President, Bantwal Taluk Committee, Raitha Sangha Hasiru Sene and Chittaranjan were present.