The genesis of the agitation against the setting up of thermal power plant in Padubidri dates back to early 90s. In fact, the Udupi Power Corporation Limited has had a long tryst with opposition and resistance. The fiasco surrounding the fast undertaken by Vishwesha Tirtha Swami of Pejawar Math to support the cause of the agitators sums up quite efficiently why the agitation has failed all these years.
Nandikur had been identified as a possible spot for the setting up of an international airport in the 80s. However, the dream of the airport could not take wings because of the lackadaisical approach of certain political heavyweights of the region. Subsequently NTPC made a futile bid to set foot in the region. This was followed by the entry of Cogentrix, a power major from the USA. People’s resistance and ligitation forced them out.
However, the Nagarjun Company, an Andhra-based firm, achieved what others could not. Despite all the opposition it has been able to execute its ambitious plan of setting up a thermal power project. The plant, under the name of UPCL, has commenced functioning although presently it is operating at just 50 per cent of its 1100 mega watt generation capacity.
Despite the inconveniences caused to the locals in Padubidri by the UPCL, the company has been able to operationalise its project speaks volumes about the patronage it enjoyed from the government. Although there have been a number of agitations against the power plant, the government had been able to quell the unrest by using police force. The Nandikur Jana Jagruthi Samithi has been spearheading an ideological war against the project. At the same time organisations like Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene have tried to infuse new energy to the movement over the last two three years. However, these organistations have been found wanting when it comes to commitment to the cause at hand.
Once the UPCL started its operation, the people started feeling the heat. The water in the wells became salty. The skies were filled with thick smoke and the women engaged in horticulture started to complain about their crops being affected. Naturally, the tell-tale signs of pollution led to the outburst of pent up anger. The people started questioning the integrity of Pejawar Swamiji, who had been periodically issuing warnings to the Government on the adverse impact of the project on environment.
In order to contain the raging acrimony, the district in-charge minister V.S. Acharya adopted the time-tested delaying tactics. He set up a committee to study the impact of the project on water, air and land. There were two experts in the panel, handpicked by Swamiji namely T.V Ramachandra and Prof. Y.B. Ramakrishna. Deputy commissioner, experts from MIT and NITK were other members of the 7-member panel. The panel also had an expert chosen by Dr. Acharya whose brief was to “protect the interest of the company”.
The panel did not meet even once before the members of the public openly aired their anguish. The first task was to carry out a survey. Although the panel fixed dates several time, it got delayed on flimsy grounds. It appeared as though the government did not want a survey to be carried out at all. However, when public started mounting pressure on the Government, the panel got into overdrive. In a matter of just 45 days, the survey was completed, a public meeting was held and as many as 1036 petitions, both oral and written, were collected.
Just when the panel was about to submit its report, word spread that some part of the report had been leaked to the press. In another couple of days, the report was published in a leading daily. Two experts said to be loyal to Pejawar Swamiji were removed from the panel overnight on the pretext that they had a role in the leaking the report. The seer considered it to be an insult to him and he raised the issue with chief minister D.V. Sadananada Gowda directly.
Mr. Gowda, who was preoccupied with issues like Sullia incident and the dissidence activities of B.S. Yeddyurappa camp, could not mollify the seer, who got further agitated when he was asked to resolve the issue by holding talks with Acharya, who had by now emerged as a strong votary of the power project.
Although Acharya, in all other matters, behaved like the de facto shishya of Pejawar, the two have been at loggerheads on the UPCL row. Fully aware of the Acharya’s stand on the issue, the seer declared that he was going on a three-day fast from January 8. The efforts by RSS leaders and Swamiji’s disciples to contact the chief minister did not succeed. The announcement hit the chord with the organisations who were protesting against the project. Esha Vittaladasa Swamiji of Kemaru Sandhipini Math also declared his support. Interestingly, the Subrahmanya Math pontiff Sugunendra Tirtha, who had arrived at the Durga Parameshwari temple to discuss the controversy surrounding the Paryaya also declared his support to the fast.
In the meanwhile, efforts by Dr. Acharya to persuade Swamiji to renege on his fast did not succeed. The minister also tried to convince the seer that the problem can be solved if more land is provided to the UPCL to set up an ash pond and manage the waste in a scientific way. However, the seer did not budge and amidst the stalemate, Pejawar started his fast. The key demand of the seer was that the two sacked members should be reinstated and the full-fledged committee should submit its report in 15 days.
The fast evoked widespread support and a number of social organisations and activists joined the stir. Mr. Acharya, who was frightened by the widespread support, tried to pressurize Pejawar to back out. He continued to hold parleys with the seer, but refused to climb down from the declared position. In the meantime, former Energy Minister and the BJP State President K.S. Eshwarappa tried to mediate between the government and the agitating seer. The BJP leader succeeded in his mission and the three-day fast ended inside 26 hours.
Pejawar, who had become a laughing stock for changing his stance quite frequently on the issue, once again exhibited his double standards. Even before he secured any concrete assurances from the government, he withdrew his fast much to the disappointment of the leaders and workers of anti-UPCL organisations. As per the formula worked out during the compromise talks, the government will set up a task force which will give weekly updates after conducting a survey of the project area. The government will fill the two vacancies in the panel after getting four nominations from the seer. The somersault by the Pejawar seer has left the activists and the citizens of Padubidri baffled.
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