Mangaluru : More than 60 cyclists has cycled from the heart of the city to the Netravathi confluence on Sunday morning with the mission “Save Netravathi.”

Flagging off the ride participated by members of Mangalore Cycling Club (MACC) and Mangalore Bicycle Club (MBC) in front of the City Corporation office early in the morning, Dinesh Holla from Sahyadri Sanchaya said the movement is gaining momentum with greater awareness among people. The Yettinahole water diversion project is not just limited to Yettinahole, but involves diversion of the Netravathi, the lifeline of Dakshina Kannada itself. In the bargain, the evergreen forest cover in the Western Ghats would get destroyed by which the coast as well as the hinterlands would lose rains.

Wearing T shirts with slogans “Save Netravathi,” members of MACC and MBC rode through PVS Junction, Bunts Hostel, Mallikatte, Bendore, Kankanady Circle, Pumpwell Junction, NH 66 to reach Ullal Industrial Area (about 15 km) where the Netravathi joins the Arabian Sea. Convener of Action Committee Against Netravathi Diversion Niranjan Rai from Uppinangady addressed the cyclists at Ullal.

A small grocery shop owner in Morgans Gate in the city stops a young cyclist on Sunday morning and offers a refill for his water bottle. When the cyclist offers the payment, the shop owner refuses and says, “This is my small contribution towards the cause you rode for.”

Sachith, the young engineer, was a part of the 60-odd cyclists who cycled from the heart of the city to the Netravathi confluence on Sunday morning with the mission “Save Netravathi.” On the way back, he had this experience from the shop owner, who was overwhelmed by the gesture of Mangaluru cyclists. This indicates that everyone in the region is participating in their own way to save Netravathi, Sachith says.