UPCL: Pejawar seer demands joint panel

Bellevision Media Network

Udupi, 17 April 2011: Vishvesha Tirtha Swamiji of Pejawar Math on Friday urged the State government to include representatives of civil society in the committee of experts, which would go into the pollution allegedly caused by Udupi Power Corporation Ltd (UPCL).

 

In a press release issued here on Friday, the swamiji said that Higher Education Minister V.S. Acharya had recently stated that a committee of experts would be appointed to study the alleged pollution and the problems it posed to the people in the villages around the thermal plant.

 

The committee would include professors from the National Institute of Technology – Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, and the Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT).

 

The Centre had provided equal representation to the representatives of civil society along with the Union Ministers in the committee formed to draft the Lokpal Bill.

 

The State government should follow in the footsteps of the Union government and give equal representation to the members of civil society in its committee of experts, he said.

 

The swamiji said he would suggest names for the committee after consulting the people.

 

The State government should fix a deadline for the committee to submit its report, he added.

The Hindu