Mangaluru: Urging to rectify the problems pertaining to the extraction of sand, the construction workers under the aegis of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) staged a daylong dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office on Monday, December 3.
Addressing the protesters, State General Secretary of construction workers’ association K Mahanthesh said, “There is an artificial dearth of sand in Dakshina Kannada district which has hit the lives of its people, who are directly and indirectly dependent upon sand mining. “As various construction works have been stalled due to the shortage of sand, workers are pushed to unemployment,” he lamented.
District General Secretary Yogish Jappinamogaru said the elected representatives of both Congress and BJP have preferred to stay mum to the demands of the people and that they did nothing to resolve the problems of sand mining. The state government should immediately take all necessary measures to rectify the problem”, he added.
CITU State Vice President Vasanth Achary and other leaders U B Lokaiah, Sadashiva Das, Jayanthi B Shetty among others spoke on the occasion and condemned the “anti-people” administration of the state and central governments.