Mangaluru : The Nethravathi Rakshana Samyuktha Samithi will offer mass prayers at places of worship on September 14, seeking the blessing of almighty for the success in hearing as the National Green Tribunal (NGT), New Delhi, will hear the petitions against the Yettinahole project on September 21.

Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, Samithi President Vijaykumar Shetty said prayers will be offered at Kadri Sri Manjunatheshwara Temple at 8.30 am, Milagres Church at 10 am, Sri Mangaladevi Temple at 11 am, Ullal Dargah (12 noon) and Sri Gokarnanantheshwara temple at Kudroli at 1 pm. MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLA J R Lobo, elected representatives of the city corporation and the Zilla Panchayat in the mass prayer programmes. “We have invited all elected representatives, including all the MLAs, to take part in the mass prayers,” he added.

Shetty said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had directed officials to take measures to speed up the Yettinahole project implementation at a meeting recently The ministers should ensure proper coordination among all the departments and clear bottlenecks, if any, Siddaramaiah had stated. This clearly shows that the elected representatives from Dakshina Kannada have failed to air the grievances of the people of coastal belt before the chief minister, he charged.

He said the chief minister had spoken about setting up desalination units in 12 districts. When water is available naturally in Dakshina Kannada, what was the need for such unit to supply water to the people of the coastal belt.

Instead, let the water from desalination units be used for supplying water to parched Chikkaballapur, Tumakur, Kolar and Bengaluru Rural districts. “By raising the issue of setting up desalination units in Coastal districts, the chief minister is trying to divert the mind of the people,” he regretted.

Samithi Member Dinakar Shetty said the chief minister, who had promised to hold talks with the protesters in Dakshina Kannada, has failed to do so. The state government is displaying a step-motherly attitude towards the people of Dakshina Kannada. Fearing the contempt of court, the government has released water for Tamil Nadu in spite of stiff opposition from the people. But the government has failed to abide by the NGT’s directive on not to fell trees, he charged.

Leader Harikrishna Bantwal said Rajya Sabha member Oscar Fernandes has also spoken about the situation to chief minister. Fernandes is also answerable to the people of the district.

“Dakshina Kannada district has experienced deficit rainfall. The people of the district will also face drought-like situation, if the rain fails. The elected representatives have failed to speak in favour of the people of the district. Otherwise, they will have to face ‘drought’ for vote as well.”

The Samithi members condemned the derogatory posts against Kateel deity on social media. The Samithi also flayed the DC for declaring holidays for schools and colleges on September 9 on account of Karnataka bandh though it was not observed in the district.