Mangalore: MSEZ Filling Gurpur River to Widen Road - Locals Angry
Brijesh Garodi
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore
Mangalore, Apr 19: The residents of Kulur and around are up in arms with the officials of Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ) over the widening of a road and alleged filling of Gurpur river with mud by the company. The work on road widening was started around a month ago.
Day and night river filling work is being been reportedly carried out with the help of over 50 tippers and many workers. On being contacted by the locals, the MSEZ officials allegedly misguided them by answering that the mud has been put up for the piling process (laying foundation for the road) and that once it is done, the mud will be removed.
But later, on seeing rollers being used for the setting of the mud, the locals came to know the reality - that the mud put into the river was not temporary, and that the road was in fact being widened by filling part of the river. In other words, the MSEZ was encroaching on the river.
The MSEZ was supposed to widen the road from the other side which would mean occupying a part of KISKO property. But to avoid that, the MSEZ came up with the plan of widening the road by filling mud into the Gurpur river.
Angered by this, the residents formed a team and revolted against the MSEZ. Their concern was not only encroachment on river and its effect on biodiversity, but also that filling the river on one side would raise the water level and lead to floods during rains.
They began their protest by handing over memorandums to the officials concerned, mainly CRZ, DC, commissioner, MLA Palemar and the ACP of Panambur police station. But no one took the matter seriously. The CRZ sent a notice to the MSEZ asking them to remove the mud within 15 days and to stop the work with immediate effect. But the MSEZ was least bothered and carried on with the road widening works.
On realizing that mere memorandums were not enough, they began agitations from March 31 and till date, six major protests have been carried out including torchlight protests, Panjina Meravanige etc. The only people who supported their protests were Pejawar Swamiji, Vidya Dinkar of Citizens Forum for Mangalore Development, and former MLA Vijay Kumar Shetty.
On April 3, while the protest was on, MSEZ official Karkera visited the spot and assured that proper settlement would be reached on the issue. On April 5, the locals were called for a meeting with the MSEZ officials, but none of them turned up to address the people except the working contractors. The contractors offered them 1000 loads of mud and 130 loads of stone to build a barricade to prevent flooding, but on the condition that the labour cost would be borne by the locals. The offer was rejected and it was decided to carry on the protest.
As the protest was going on in a large scale, on April 17 the road work was carried out allegedly with the help of nearly 75 goons who came in nearly 20 vehicles along with two contractors Sameer and Arun. The work was carried out from morning to midnight till around 12.30 am, with the goons guarding the spot so as to prevent anyone from interfering.
Vidya Dinker in a letter to DC Dr Channappa Gowda pointed out that the work undertaken by MSEZ is against its earlier promise of not damaging the Gurpur river ecosystem. "The work underway in the Gurupur river right now is in contravention of an undertaking to the High Court by the senior counsel appearing for M/s MSEZL in WP 11630 of 2012, that the MSEZL would not do any work that would damage the Gurupura river ecosystem; and of Notice No. CRZ/ Violation/20/2011-12 dated 05/04/2012 issued to M/s MSEZ Ltd. by the Regional Director (Envt.), DFEE Mangalore," the letter states.
The letter demands,
- Order the violator M/s MSEZ Ltd to immediately stop dumping / land filling in the Gurupur River.
- Order the project proponents to immediately begin restoration of the disturbed riverine ecosystem to its original rich biodiverse state.
- As district magistrate, under the provisions of the CrPC, take immediate steps to stop the public nuisance created by the MSEZ Ltd on the landward side of Kulur Bridge in Gurupur river.
In addition, Arun D’Souza, a petitioner in the case, claims that he received a phone call from an unknown person asking him to take all the cases back which were filed against the MSEZ. He was also asked to go to the police station after midnight, but fearing the goons, chose not to do so.
In a letter to the Panambur SI, Arun D'Souza stated, "I demand that cases under the appropriate penal sections be immediately booked against the offenders - executives of M/s MSEZ Ltd, their contractors M/s Thakur Infra Projects Pvt Ltd, sub-agents Sameer, Arun, and other hired goons, and that their vehicles and machinery be seized."
However, despite having contacted everyone over this issue including district officials, no one has turned up to help the locals. They have complained that even the police are not capable of taking action on the issue.