Udupi, (The Hindu): BJP legislators to participate in dharna on Thursday. Kota Srinivas Poojary, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, said on Monday that the State government and the district administration had failed completely in solving the sand extraction issue in Udupi district.

Addressing presspersons here, Mr. Poojary said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fully supported the strike (since withdrawn) of the owners of the trucks.

The delay in identification of sand blocks and sand bars in the district had affected the livelihood of the truck operators and workers in the construction sector and allied sectors. Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had directed the Deputy Commissioners of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts to allow sand extraction from October 15.

Minister for Women and Child Development Jaimala, who is also Udupi district in-charge, had directed the officers to allow sand extraction at a tri-monthly Karnataka Development Programme meeting here on October 3.

Despite these directions, the district administration had been going slow on the issue, he said.

Hence, the sand extractors, engineers association and the constructor sector workers association had called for an indefinite dharna in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here from Thursday. BJP legislators will take part in the dharna till the demands of these associations are met.