Udupi, January 10: Pejawar Mutt pontiff Sri Vishwesha Theertha Swamiji, on Tuesday withdrew his fasting taken up against the UPCL power plant, half a way, suspecting government's reluctance to meet his demands.
Meanwhile, Udupi District in-charge Minister Dr VS Acharya, who met Pejawar seer at the fasting site and held closed door discussions with the seer proposed to set up a task force to look in to the efforts made to reduce the ill effects of coal based UPCL power plant, on a weekly basis.
Minister justified dropping of two of the seer's nominees from the expert committee studying the ill effects of the UPCL plants on the environment, saying `they violated the terms of reference' and advised the seer to propose two other names. But the seer rejected his proposal as that would amount to insult to the experts already dropped from the committee. As the minister was coming out from the discussion room, the agitators who learnt that seer was withdrawing his fasting, yielding to Minister's assurance, gheraod the minister and shouted slogans against him.
President of the Nandikur Jana Jagruthi Samithi Balakrishna Shetty even challenged the minister to shift his family to the affected area and make a living there and then justify his stand that the UPCL has not caused environmental hazards. He also offered to give him one acre of land with a house from their side, in the region.
As the situation turned tense police intervene to escort the minister through the backdoor.
Pejawar told press persons that he was withdrawing his fasting not because he was unwell. He said though his doctor advised him to withdraw fasting he could continue it for two more days. ``But it seems the government was reluctant to neglect his demands. Minister Dr Acharya said that the government was neither ready to stop power production in the UPCL unit 1, temporarily nor ready to reappoint his nominees to the expert committee.
Pejawar said that though he withdrew his fasting, the agitation would continue, till the people's problems are solved.
Later speaking at a press conference Dr Acharya urged the Pejawar pontiff to suggest four other names of the experts, so that government would pick two of them to the committee.
He also proposed to draw water from the Shambavi river Mulki to replace the UPCL plant using salt water from the sea. He said that Chief Minister DV Sadananda Gowda had agreed his suggestion provided they proved feasible.
He took a section of the media to task for spreading romours that his doctor sons have taken money from the Lanco (promoters of UPCL) to set up a hospital in Hyderabad. The allegation is false and baseless, he said.
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