Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has ordered a probe by the district magistrate into the violent incidents that took place at Kudgi in Basavana bagewadi taluk of Bijapur district that led to police firing.
Farmers of Kudgi and other villages had been opposing the super thermal power plant being set up by the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the protest turned violent on Saturday. Twelve persons, including two policemen, suffered injuries in the incidents.
Siddaramaiah who met the injured at the KLE Society’s hospital in Belgaum on Sunday, said, he had ordered the deputy commissioner of Bijapur district to probe the incident and submit a report at the earliest. The government will take necessary action after receiving the report, he said.
The condition of those admitted to the hospital was stable and there was no cause for any anxiety, he informed. The NTPC, with assistance from the state government, is setting up the plant at Kudgi. The residents of Kudgi and the surrounding villages are opposing the plant on the ground that it would harm the ecology and affect agriculture adversely.
Further, they were angry that the NTPC had not fulfilled its promise of providing employment to the families of those who have lost their lands.
They had been holding protest demonstrations for four days, and on Saturday they turned violent and set police vehicles on fire and pelted stones. The police had to order a lathi charge, and lobbed tear gas shells and then fired in the air to bring the situation under control. Two persons suffered bullet injuries. They are responding to the treatment, Siddaramaiah said.
The chief minister said the farmers were being misguided by some persons and hence opposed the establishment of the plant. The state is facing acute shortage of power and the farmers should give up the protest, he urged.
The CM was accompanied by home minister K J George, law minister T B Jayachandra and senior police officers.
