Farmers in the Cauvery belt have reiterated their opposition to trial blasts at KRS reservoir, near Mysuru, during a round-table meeting in Mandya.
Addressing a media conference in Mysuru on July 1, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) leader Badagalapura Nagendra said the activists attending the round-table meeting in Mandya on June 29 resolved to lay siege to KRS reservoir in Srirangapatna, near Mysuru, if the Mandya district administration and Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNNL) decide to go ahead with trial blasts again.
The efforts of the authorities to carry out trial blasts had been blocked thrice by farmers’ outfits, including KRRS. The last attempt was in March this year when a team of experts from Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) arrived in Mandya to prepare the ground for trial blasts in the vicinity of KRS reservoir.
The round-table meeting of farmers’ outfits was held in Mandya in the wake of reports that CNNL and Mandya district administration were bracing to carry out trial blasts by citing their commitment to the High Court of Karnataka. Farmers from Mandya, Mysuru, Ramanagara, Chamarajanagar, Tumakuru and Hassan districts participated in the round-table meeting, and opposed the trial blasts in unison.
While the High Court of Karnataka had banned all mining and allied activities in a radius of 20 km from KRS reservoir in view of the threat to the safety of the dam, the government had given a commitment to the court to carry out trial blasts to assess the impact of blasts during mining on the safety of the reservoir, Mr. Nagendra said.
CNNL and the Mandya district administration had come forward to carry out trial blasts after mining licence-holders filed a writ petition in the High Court questioning the ban on mining activities within a radius of 20 km of KRS reservoir.
KRRS wants a permanent ban on mining near KRS reservoir
Suspecting that the government, succumbing to the mining lobby, was planning to carry out trial blasts to build a case that the blasts do not pose a threat to the reservoir, the KRRS sought a permanent ban on mining activities in a radius of 20 km from KRS reservoir.
Pointing out that KRS is the life-line of not only farmers, but the entire human and animal population in the Cauvery region, Mr. Nagendra said farmers had made clear their opposition (to the trial blasts) during a meeting convened by the Mandya district administration seeking their co-operation to carry out the trial blasts.
