Udupi: People protest against Suvarna Corridor project

The Hindu

Denotification in five days, says Deputy Commissioner

---

Residents of three villages stage dharna

‘Government should rescind order within 10 days’

---

RAISING THEIR VOICE: Residents of Belman, Nandalike and Sooda villages taking out a rally in Udupi on Tuesday.

Udupi: Over 3,000 people from Belman, Nandalike and Sooda villages staged a dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Tuesday in protest against the acquisition of their agricultural land for the Suvarna Corridor industrial project.

President of the Bhoo Santrastara Horata Samiti N. Suhas Hegde said that the Government had notified 1,138.04 acres of agricultural land in Belman, Nandalike and Sooda villages for acquisition for the project.

Over 1,000 families would lose their houses if the project was implemented. “We will not give even an inch of our land to the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) at any cost. The Government should rescind its notification of November 7, 2009,” Mr. Hegde said.

Assurance

Deputy Commissioner P. Hemalatha, who received the petition, told the protesters that the Government had decided to rescind the notification.

The denotification would be issued in five days and copies would be sent to the gram panchayats concerned, she said.

Mr. Hegde said that if the Government did not rescind the notification in 10 days, 10,000 people from the three villages would launch an ‘anna satyagraha’ in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office.

Vice-president of the samiti Shashidhar Shetty, secretary Xavier D’Mello and president of the district unit of Janata Dal (Secular) Deviprasad Shetty were present.