BENGALURU: State BJP leaders have extended their support to party MLA and former Union minister Basangouda Patil Yatnal, who is protesting against the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) for refusing to allow his sugar factory in Kalaburagi to resume operations, despite court orders.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka said the state government and the board are not allowing the factory to reopen, despite the HC order. The corruption in the pollution control board is rampant and the officials were acting on the directions of their political bosses to harass Yatnal, he alleged.
The KSPCB is not granting permission to Yatnal’s sugar factory in an attempt to politically finish him, said former CM and MP Basavaraj Bommai.
Speaking to the media after participating in the protest led by Yatnal, against the injustice by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board, Bommai said law and justice have died in the state, and politics of hatred is being practised. Yatnal established the sugar factory in accordance with the law, but last year, the pollution control board did not grant permission to it. He approached the court, which ordered the factory to be reopened within four weeks. However, the board is now citing technical reasons and refusing to grant permission, he added.
The MP alleged that the KSPCB is biased in granting permission to several other sugar factories, while discriminating against Yatnal’s factory. It has also granted permission to units that violated the law.
They would not let this issue rest and would continue to fight. Thousands of farmers are dependent on this factory, and this year, a large amount of sugarcane has been cultivated in that region, so the factory needs to be opened. The government talks about bringing industry to North Karnataka on one hand, but engages in such politics on the other, he added. BJP state president BY Vijayendra also slammed the government.