Hundreds of residents from Sagar taluk took out a protest march from Besur village to Sagar town on Wednesday, opposing any move to set up a nuclear power plant at Besur.

Villagers from across the taluk gathered for the march, covering approximately 25 kilometres, and urged the State government and the Shivamogga district administration to categorically assure people that no such plant would be established in the area. Protesters raised slogans against the proposed plant throughout the march before assembling in front of the Assistant Commissioner’s office in Sagar, where they staged a dharna.

The protesters demanded that elected representatives and the government respond to their concerns and give a firm assurance that no such project would be taken up in the district. They recalled that residents of the taluk had already borne the brunt of dam projects, with many yet to receive adequate compensation for land lost. The people would not accept any further displacement, they said.

Shivamogga MP B.Y. Raghavendra, Sagar MLA Belur Gopalakrishna, MLC Dhananjay Sarji, former Minister Hartal Halappa, and several seers joined the march. A memorandum was submitted to Deputy Commissioner Prabhulinga Kavalikatti on the occasion.

Addressing the protesters, Mr. Raghavendra said there was no need for alarm, as the district administration had already clarified that no formal proposal for a nuclear plant existed. He assured the gathering that he would oppose any project detrimental to the fragile ecology of the Malnad region and the interests of local people and that he would personally urge the Union Minister to drop the proposal entirely.

Ti.Na. Srinivas, Dinesh Shiravala, Mallikarjun Hakre, Satyanarayana G.T. and others led the protest.