Southern States - Karnataka   

Sangha opposes meet in Bangalore

By Our Staff Correspondent

RAICHUR NOV. 29. The Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS) has threatened to stage a dharna in front of the office of the Tungabhadra Command Area Development Authority (CADA) at Munirabad from December 6 if the proposed meeting of the Tungabhadra Irrigation Consultative Committee (ICC) is held in Bangalore.

Addressing presspersons here today, Chamaras Patil Bettadur, General Secretary of the sangha, demanded that the meeting be held at Munirabad. The committee should consult farmers before taking a decision to stop the release of water into the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal (TLBC). He demanded that water be released into the canal till January 15 to save the standing crops in district.

He said the meeting was likely to be held in Bangalore to avoid confrontation with the farmers of the district. In the meetings held in July, the committee decided to release water into the canal from August 1 to November end for kharif crops. However, water did not reach the tail end areas till September because of frequent breaches in the canal.

This had affected sowing in Sindhanoor, Manvi, and Raichur taluks. Sowing commenced in the first week of October, and crops such as sunflower, hybrid jowar, groundnut, cotton, and chilli needed water till January 15.

Mr. Bettadur said the Government might take a decision to close the canal early if the meeting was held in Bangalore. Leaders of farmers should be invited to the meeting.

During the previous kharif season, farmers of the command area of the canal reaped a bumper paddy crop because of adequate water supply between July 11 and December 25.

There was a need to maintain water supply in the canal at least for another 45 days.

He said farmers could not cultivate summer crops last year due to the poor storage of water in the reservoir. The situation would be the same this year too.

The Government should take steps to save the standing crops by maintaining water supply in the canal till January 15, he added.

Shamsundar Kirthi, Dodda Basanagouda Ballatgi, Chennabasanagouda Bettadur, Basanagouda Malipatil, and Shankarappa Sawkar, leaders of the sangha, were present.

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