Kudremukh in gloom as mines close down
DH News Service Kudremukh:
Following the closure of mines by the Kudremukh
Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) at...
Following the closure of mines by the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) at midnight on December 31, gloom descended on this township on Sunday with workers and their families observing a Black Day on the occasion.
Urging the State and the Central governments to let the KIOCL resume mining operations, the workers took out a massive
protest march in the township. Most shops and business establishments downed their shutters during the day.
The workers vented their ire against
environmentalists, blaming them for the Supreme Court order banning mining activities by KIOCL.Thousands took part in the protest march, which began in front of Sampat Bhavan in the township.
Sporting black bands and badges, the protesters shouted slogans against environmentalists. Members of the Kudremukh Employees’ Union, Kudremukh Shramashakti Sanghatane, Kudremukh Mazdoor Sangh, Kudremukh Workers’ Association and other associations took part in the protest. Women and children were also present in large numbers.
Greens face wrath
Effigies of writer U R Ananthamurthy who had opposed mining in Kudremukh, environmentalists Praveen Bhargav and Niren Jain, Save Tungabhadra Agitation leader Kalkuli Vithala Hegde were at the receiving end of the wrath of the protestors, who garlanded them with footwear and beat them with brooms. The effigies were burnt at the end of the march.
Addressing a rally at the Kudremukh circle, union leaders alleged that the environmentalists, by submitting fake documents, misled the Supreme Court into ordering the mines closure.
Trashing allegations that KIOCL was damaging the environment and natural resources of the region, they urged the Supreme Court to allow mining activities in