Pejawar Seer withdraws fast, but continues the fight

Pejawar Seer withdraws fast, but continues the fight

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, January 11, 2012 : Shri Vishwesha Teertha Swamiji of Pejawar Mutt withdrew his protest fast against UPCL half way through.

Dr. V. S. Acharya, the district-in-charge minister of Udupi, meet the swamiji and held a closed-door discussion with him, during which he proposed the setting up of a task force to reduce the effects of the UPCL on the environment.

Regarding the sudden removal of two experts from the panel formed to study the impact of the power plant on the environment, the minister said that they had to be removed because they “violated terms of reference.” Although the minister urged the seer to propose two more names, the seer refused to do so because he felt that this would be an insult to those experts who were removed from the panel.

When the minister came out of the room after the discussion, furious protestors surrounded him and yelled slogans against him. Balakrishna Shetty, the president of the Nandikur Jana Jagruthi Samithi, angrily challenged him to move to the affected area and live there with his family and then claim that the UPCL has not harmed the environment. Mr. Shetty also offered to donate an acre of land in the affected region to the minister.

The police had to intervene and escort the minister through the back door.

Meanwhile, the Pejawar seer told reporters that he has stopped fasting because he was not feeling well. Stating that the government is reluctant to agree with his demands, he said that the minister had informed him that the government is neither ready to stop power production in the first unit of the UPCL nor ready to re-appoint the experts nominated by him to the committee.

He confirmed that he will continue fighting for the people till all problems are solved although he has withdrawn his fast.

Later, Dr. V. S. Acharya addressed a press conference during which he urged the Pejawar seer to suggest four new names for the committee so that the government could choose two of them.

He also suggested that water from the Shambhavi River in Mulky can be used by the UPCL instead of sea water, adding that the chief minister is willing to approve the suggestion if proved to be feasible.

He also flayed the media for publishing reports that his sons have received money from Lanco, the promoter of UPCL, to establish a hospital in Hyderabad. The allegation is false, he declared.