PADUBIDRI: Hundreds of villagers who were agitated over the hardships caused by the
UPCL power project by letting saline water into their fields, barged into the Nagarjuna
site on June 28, Monday and took the officials to task. The villagers even warned the
officials of destroying the pipeline of the project that has been linked to the sea.
It is believed that the company which had initially assured to see that the waste water
would be let to the seas, now fearing that such an action would lead to protests from the
fishermen community, was letting the saline water in the open, the result of which was
that the water entered into the nearby fields and destroyed agricultural crops while also
contaminating well waters rendering them unfit for consumption.
The villagers who were fed up with the apathetic attitude of the company officials despite
vehement pleas to solve their problem, on Monday barged into the site despite being
prevented by the security guards and warned the company official Girish Navada that
they would even intercept all the vehicles entering the project site and set them afire and
also demolish the pipeline connected to the sea.
Though officials at first refused to admit that saline water was entering the fields, the
villagers had brought samples of the water for the officials to taste. Finally, they admitted
that it was the fault of the company and assured to rectify the problem.
Speaking on the occasion, Ellur Gram Panchayat Member Yashavanth Shetty said a
meeting has been convened in the gram panchayat office on July 3 wherein the villagers
would decide on their future course of action.
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