Elder citizen Kotramma takes on mining mafia; stops truck movement

Shyam Sundar Vattam | NT

Bengaluru: Elder citizen Kotramma is today the talk of the town in Harihar taluk of Davangere district. Reason? She dared to take on the land mining mafia in her Sarathi village by sitting in front of a big truck as a mark of protest on Monday.

A large number of trucks move on the countryside roads raising dust and spoiling the standing crops in the village. Many people had earlier tried to stop the movement of trucks but failed as big guns are reportedly backing the mafia.

After it became a question of life and death for the old lady, she decided to stay put on the main road that leads to the mining areas, and refused to move away. She has only one question to pose: Who will compensate for the standing crops if they are damaged due to the accumulation of dust?

Her grouse is understandable as the movement of trucks laden with ore have damaged the village road as well as crops cultivated on sides of the road. This has been seen in Ballari when mining was in its peak with trees along the roads turning brown or black due to 24 X 7 movement of ore laden trucks.