The Hindu : Karnataka / Raichur News : KRRS begins indefinite hunger strike

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Raichur

KRRS begins indefinite hunger strike

By Our Staff Correspondent

Activists of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha staging a hunger strike in front of the Deputy Commissioner's office in Raichur on Tuesday.

RAICHUR, MAY 4. Activists of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha launched an indefinite hunger strike here on Tuesday in protest against what it called the failure of the Government in taking up the work on strengthening the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal.

The activists, led by Chamarasa Malipatil, general secretary of the sangha, who sat in a tent in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner, will continue their protest till the Government begins the work. Those who have gone on fast are Shyamasunder Keerthi, Vishwanatha Reddy, Venkob Naik, Shekarappa Sowkar and Shekargouda Yerdihal. They alleged that the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, who promised to implement the work immediately after polling, had cheated the farmers. He could have taken up the issue with the Karnataka Neeravari Nigam, to which the work had been entrusted. By this time, the tendering process for the work could have been completed.

Mr. Malipatil told The Hindu that the Chief Minister had failed to look into the problems faced by the farmers of Koppal and Raichur districts.

The five-decade-old canal had become weak in many portions and it needed proper maintenance from time to time. But the Government failed to take up maintenance in the past two years which affected water supply to the tail-end fields even during the kharif season. Another problem was that storage in the reservoir had gone down drastically owing to the poor monsoon which forced the farmers to forgo rabi sowing in the past two years. The crops in the tail-end region had been affected by frequent breaches in the upper reaches of the canal, he said.

He said on several occasions, the sangha had reminded the Chief Minister to initiate urgent measures to strengthen the canal during closure periods. Now, the farmers had decided to intensify their stir until their demand was met, he said.

Mr. Malipatil said the sangha had decided to stage a rasa roko at seventh-mile cross near here on Wednesday. Thousands of farmers from surrounding villages were expected to participate.

On Thursday, the agitation would be held near Kapgal village in Manvi taluk. It would be held in all important villages and towns along the command area until the Government called tenders to repair the canal, he said. The Deputy Commissioner, G.N. Nayak, who visited the agitators, assured them that he would contact the Principal Secretary of the Water Resource Department to convey their message to the Government and try to solve their problems early.

An all-party delegation of former elected representatives along with Raja Amareshwara Naik, Minister for Prisons, and Mallikarjuna Nagappa, Minister of State for Revenue, have gone to Bangalore to take up the issue with the Chief Minister.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News Update

Stories in this Section

KRRS begins indefinite hunger strike