Kaup: Villagers stop crusher going to reservoir

By Snehalatha, Udupi
Bellevision Media Network

Kaup, 17 April 2012: Villagers stopped a trailer truck carrying a huge rock crusher machine heading to the crude oil reservoir project under construction to crush the rocks at the site on Monday and conducted protest on the rock crushing activities. In this central government project of crude oil reservoir for storage of crude oil, huge rocks have been extracted and to clear these rocks the work has been assigned to the private contractors.

 
These contractors are making the preparation work to crush these rocks into small aggregates in the same place and this work will go on for few years with a budget cost of hundreds of crore rupees. Since this work will be carried out at heights and as the crushing of the rocks will be done on the spot using rock crushing machines, this would cause severe difficulties to the local farmers. In the monsoon the huge amount of crushed rock powder coming out of the crushing machine would flow into the agricultural fields. This could form the land hard like a concreted surface and cultivation of paddy rice or any other crop becomes impossible.

 

 
Besides, the powder produced from the rock crushing machines while crushing lacks of tons of rocks will be in fine particles which will get mixed up with the atmospheric air and have serious effect on the health of the local people – animals, is the fear of the local people. For this reason the locals have made objection to this project of crushing the rocks. The local Panchayath has decided not to give permission for this project. The Deputy commissioner has assured to the local people that, if there is no permission from the Grama Panchayath, then the crushing project cannot begun.

 
In spite of all these, while secretly mobilizing the huge rock crushing machine on a trailer truck on Sunday night from Kaup Highway to Padoor, observing this the locals have stopped it. Also while the trailer was moving on the road it has cut off the electric wire which was on the way and as this might possibly cause danger to public, the angry locals threw stones to the trailer and broke its front wind shield glass.

 
On Monday the local people led by Shivarama Shetty Payyaru, Pravin Shetty and others gathered in the same place and conducted protest. Later the Police came and took the vehicle into their custody.

 
As this crushing activity can cause damage to the life of the people – agriculture – environment, there is objection for this from the people. Besides the Grama panchayath has not given permission for this activity. The lakhs of tons of rocks which have been extracted for the crude oil reservoir project has to be shifted elsewhere and should be crushed in a safe place. But it will not be possible to do the crushing where it will cause difficulties to the people, says Kaup MLA Lalaji R. Mendon.