Protest against land acquisition

UDUPI: Villagers from Kalathur, Padur and Kuthyaru under the banner Jana Jagruthi Samithi, staged a protest demanding the Chief Minister to drop the acquisition of fertile land for the second phase of ISPRL (Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited). They submitted a memorandum which stated that works of the ISPRL in Padur was planned on 200 acres of land acquired by the KIADB, for storing crude petroleum oil. The villagers had agreed for the acquisition of the land two years ago, as the project was in the interest of the nation. Officials of the project then had said that 200 acres of land would be sufficient for the project. “In December, officials from ISPRL conducted a survey on 700 acres of  agricultural land, saying the government had allotted the land for second phase works,” they alleged.