Karnataka - Bijapur   

Alamatti agitators demand separate State

By Our Staff Correspondent

BIJAPUR, JAN. 15. The farmers who have been organising dharnas and protest programmes at the Alamatti Dam site since December 16 on Saturday demanded a separate State consisting of the Bombay Karnataka districts.

They have been agitating in support of their demand that the delayed irrigation schemes such as the Mulwad lift irrigation scheme planned under Upper Krishna Project be expedited to benefit Bijapur and Bagalkot districts.

Lackadaisical response

Their demand for a separate State has come in the wake of the alleged lackadaisical response from the Government to their monthlong agitation.

Addressing the gathering in front of the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd. office at the Alamatti Dam site, the president of the Bharatiya Janata Party district unit and former MLA from Basavanabagewadi, S.K. Bellubbi, said that the people of the region had lost confidence in the Government, as it failed to respond to their demands.

The Hyderabad Karnataka districts, especially Gulbarga, were given importance under Scheme A of the Bachawat Award on Krishna waters allocation and the schemes to benefit Bijapur and Bagalkot were planned under Scheme B. The original allocation of 56 tmcft to the Mulwad lift irrigation project had been reduced to 36 tmcft in the draft plan, which had to be restored.

Pending demand

The long pending demand for developing an industrial growth centre in the project area had not been met. It was essential to address the unemployment problem born out of large-scale displacement of people for the project, he added.

Peasants, especially women, from Vandal village participated.

Mr. Bellubbi told The Hindu that the party's MLAs from the two districts would meet on Sunday at Alamatti to decide their future course of agitation.

The Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council, D.H. Shankaramurthy, would also take part in deliberation, he added.

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