The opposition to the proposed expansion of the Karwar port under the “Sagarmala” project gathered steam on Tuesday with the protesters calling for Karwar bandh on January 16.
Protesters vented their ire against the project by defacing the posters of Uttara Kannada MP Ananth Kumar Hegde and local MLA Roopali Naik, stating that the people’s representatives had failed to address their concerns.
Fishing in coastal areas between Bhatkal and Karwar came to a halt on Tuesday while hundreds of workers in the fish market joined the protest, urging the government not to destroy their livelihood with port expansion.
“The MLA and the MP had promised that the government would not take up any project that affects our livelihood, but were doing the exact opposite. However, now they are going ahead with the construction of retaining wall. We can’t trust them,” the protesters said.
Traffic on NH 66 was affected for some time as the protesters sat on the road and raised slogans against the state and the Central governments. While protesters alleged that police highhandedness in arresting people fighting for their livelihood, Uttara Kannada Superintendent of Police Shiva Prakash Devaraju said some protesters were detained for a very short time.
“We only detained some protesters and released them after a short while. Steps are being taken to ensure that normal life will not be affected on Thursday. We will deploy 250 additional personnel to ensure peace,” he said.