Farmers stage protest against proposed thermal project

Mysore, Aug 28 (UNI) Farmers in Chamalapura took out a silent procession, blindfolded and carrying portraits of freedom fighters, here today to protest against the proposed thermal power plant in their village.

Members of the Association of Concerned and Informed Citizens of Mysore (ACICM), including women also participated hanging around their neck, photos of great leaders of the country like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr B R Ambedkar, Rajendraprasad, Lalbahadur Shastri, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Jayachamarajawadiyar, Subash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh.

The message was obvious: these leaders laid down their lives for the country protesting the British rule. The protestors symbolically vowed to sacrifice their lives in protest against the thermal plant.

The blindfold suggested that the government had kept the people in the dark and was going ahead with the plant although it would be dangerous to the people and the environment.

The protesters also staged a dharna at K R Circle disrupting the vehicular traffic.

Later, they submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner N S Channappa Gowda, appealing to the state government to drop the proposed project immediately.

The proposed Rs 5,500 crore project of 1,000 mw of power in an area of 2,500 acres of land in Chamalapura village on Mysore H D Kote road was one among the three power projects approved by the state government, with other two being at Gataprabha and Jivaragi in North Karnataka.

UNI