Mangaluru : Activists from Sahyadri Samrakshana Sanchaya on Tuesday carried out black flag demonstration against Environment Minister B. Ramanath Rai for his support to the Yettinahole Diversion Project. The demonstration was near Nehru Maidan, which was the venue for Republic Day celebration.

The black flag demonstration against Mr. Rai was in continuation of the sanchaya’s protest against te State government for continuing with the project that was harming the eco-sensitive Western Ghats. The sanchaya questioned the government spending Rs. 13,000 crore for the project that would not provide water to arid areas of Kolar, Chickballapur, Tumkuru and Bengaluru Rural.

Police were found in good number in an around the Nehru Maidan. Police in plain clothes at various points on the A.B. Shetty Road to keep watch of movement of activists. They saw a group of four activists led by Sanchaya’s Dinesh Holla assembling near the Regional Transport Office around 9 a.m. The police immediately trooped to the RTO office and took Mr. Holla and three others in custody when they started shouting slogans against Mr. Rai, who arrived at the venue around 9.15 a.m.

Another group of six activists led by Shashidhar Shetty carried out a demonstration near the gate of Nehru Maidan as cultural programmes were underway. Police took the protesters away from the venue and shifted them to nearest Mangaluru South police station in a van. All 10 protesters, who were taken under preventive custody, were released around 11 a.m.