Farmers, mine owners stage protest following officer's visit

A protest staged by mine owners triggered a counter protest by farmers on Mysore-Shimoga Highway, near Kanivekoppalu road, in Mandya on Thursday.

The mine owners who staged a protest first, alleged that farmer leader K S Puttanaiah was responsible for hindrance of stone quarrying activities near Bebi hills of Pandavapura.

Roads were blocked and slogans against Puttanaiah were raised by protestors while senior geologist of Mandya District department of Mines and Geology Lakshmi was on her visit to the hills to inspect mining activities there.

On receiving information about the protests, farmers arrived in large numbers and also started protests against the mine owners. They alleged that JD(S) leaders who are worried about their prospects in the district were conspiring against Puttanaiah.

 They directly alleged JD(S) candidate C S Puttaraju and his relatives C Ashoka and Shivakumara’s hand in protests of mine owners.

Tahsildar Shivakumaraswamy, DySP arrived at the spot and requested both parties not to heed to allegations.

Residents allege

Prakash and M R Mahesh, residents of Ragimuddenahalli alleged that despite repeated requests made to officers to inspect the spot, they had not turned up. “They have come now during the election time, only to create confusions. The houses near the mines have suffered cracks due to the use of explosives,” they added.

However, Lakshmi clarified that she had visited to the spot only on her duty and there was no other vested interest in that.