Mangalore: Unaffected by the heavy rain, more than 3,000 people participated in the day long hunger strike- protest organised by Matru Bhoomi Horata Samithi against setting up of an Ultra Mega Power Project (UMPP) at Niddodi on Sunday.
People had initiated their fight against UMPP after officials visited the village in May to survey the land for the project. The struggle intensified after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah declared that the UMPP would be set up in the coastal region during his budget speech.
On Sunday morning more than 3,000 people from Niddodi and surrounding villages under the banner of Matru Bhoomi Horata Samithi and various organisations participated in the event and condemned the government’s move to set up the UMPP.
The residents are unanimous in their vow not to allow the power plant to come up, irrespective of the inducements. The residents said no details about the project were forthcoming. But the mention of the project in the budget presented by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has made them sit up and take note.
The hunger strike is aimed at expressing opposition to the project in the initial stage itself, The local people’s representatives and officials have no information in this regard. That the agitation drew 2,000 people in a small place like Niddodi, in spite of rain, shows the extent of the anger.
A memorandum was handed over to the Chief Minister through the tahsildar on Sunday morning. “Our stand is very clear, we do not want this project in our village,” Matru Bhoomi Horata Samithi president Alphonse said. “We will intensify our fight and in the second phase, a protest will be held at Swaraj Maidan in Moodbidri on August 4,” he said.
