DKBMSU Stages Protest to Lift ban on Sand Extraction
Mangaluru: “This is not a political fight, we are fighting for the poor people who are facing problems due to the ban on sand extraction”, said the honorary president of DKBMSU Kishore Kumar, during the protest held in front of the DC office, here on September 29.
Addressing the protesters Kishore Kumar said, “We are not from any political party. When we met the DC, he assured us of giving the permission to extract sand from August 15, but the Department of Mines and Geology is not giving us the permission. From the past four months, sand extraction has totally stopped and people are facing severe problems. When we staged a protest in front of the Mines and geology department on September 28, the Bunder police arrested us. On the same day when we went to the Pandeshwar police station to seek permission to hold a protest in front of the DC office, they denied permission saying that there is another protest. Why are the police hesitating to give us permission to hold the protest?”.
Kishore further said that the district minister in-charge is not minister only for congress but he is the district minister of DK. He should listen to our problems and find a solution. If the ban will not be lifted in 24 hours and a proper sand policy will not be implemented we will protest in front of Ramanath Rai’s house. We are not against Rai for providing illegal permits, we want the ban on sand extraction to be lifted.
President of DKBMSU Randeep said that the state government has given various Bhagyas and now they have given us the sand abhagya. The district administration had put a ban on sand extraction until August 15, but from the past 15 days, we are busy protesting to lift the ban. The district administration nor the district minister is listening to our plea. If the ban will not be lifted, in the coming days we will intensify our protest, he said.
Member of DKBMSU Franklin said, “We have requested the deputy commissioner to lift the ban on sand extraction. The administration, as well as the ministers, know that illegal sand mining is going on and the district administration has turned a blind eye. But when we ask permission to protest legally the police are not giving us permission. On September 28, we were arrested while protesting in front of the Mine and Geology department office. They thought if they arrest us, we will stop our agitation, but we will not stop our fight until the ban on sand extraction is lifted. In the next 24 hours if the ban is not lifted we will intensify our protest. The district administration will be held responsible for any untoward incidents, Franklin warned.