Protest against project in Dakshina Kannada dist

The Dakshina Kannada district observed a voluntary bandh and ‘black day’ opposing the Yettinahole project on Monday.

The bandh called by the Karavali Jeevanadi Netravati Rakshana Samiti and supported by over 70 organisations was total and peaceful. Normal life was disrupted as public transport was halted till 6 pm. The Canara Bus Owners’ Association had extended its support to the bandh call and withdrew its services. 

The KSRTC too stopped the services to avoid any damage to the buses. Autorickshaws too did not ply, except for the ones that picked up passengers from the railway station and bus stands. 

Schools and colleges were closed down and examinations were postponed. All services including banks, post offices and restaurants, were shut down. The otherwise busy Mangalore central market, fishing dock and malls wore a deserted look. It is, perhaps, for the first time in the last few decades that a bandh call received massive response.

Various organisations staged protests in the city, demanding that the government nix the project. The protesters said that the bandh was just the beginning of the fight against the project. Former Congress MLA Vijaykumar Shetty said that they would file a PIL against the Yettinahole project. “The project is unscientific and illogical. It will end up damaging the Western Ghats and the water source of D-K district,” he said.