The Hindu : Karnataka News : Chief Minister to meet farmers from Krishna Basin

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 04, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka

Chief Minister to meet farmers from Krishna Basin

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, FEB. 3. The State Government has appealed to the Krishna Basin farmers in Bijapur and Bagalkot districts to call off their agitation and promised to protect their interests.

The Minister for Water Resources and Transport, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, said in a statement in the Legislative Assembly today that the Government will call a meeting with representatives of farmers in a few days and try to convince them on what it proposes to do to safeguard their interests. The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, will chair the meeting.

`No diversion'

He said it is incorrect to say that there are plans to divert the Krishna waters allocated for the two districts under Scheme `A' of the Bachawat award to other regions. The pending Krishna Basin projects will be completed by the year-end and 2.26 lakh hectares of land irrigated in the two districts. Reports that the Government is thinking of diverting the water to Jewargi, the home constituency of the Chief Minister, are baseless, Mr. Kharge said. The Government will conform to the allocation made to each region a long time ago, he added.

Referring to the surplus waters of the Krishna, expected to be allocated by the newly constituted tribunal, he said the Government will apportion the surplus to various regions based on the allocation to the State. It is too early to talk about the surplus waters as the tribunal has been constituted recently. The tribunal is yet to receive petitions of the riparian States, he said.

On the agitation by farmers, he said there should be no politics on sensitive issues such as water allocation. "Let us also not stand on prestige on issues involving the interests of the people." The Government will do its best to supply Krishna waters to tanks and lakes adjoining the canal network in the two districts as demanded by farmers.

While 1.77 lakh hectares of land in Bijapur district and nearly 45,000 hectares in Bagalkot district will be irrigated, Mr. Kharge said.

The Leader of the Opposition, B.S. Yediyurappa, and the Deputy Leader, Govind Karjol (who is from the region), suggested that Mr. Kharge meet the farmers who have launched the agitation.

He said large tracts of land in Bijapur and Bagalkot are submerged under the backwaters of the Alamatti Dam, and the people would like the Government to provide adequate irrigation to the two districts, he added.

Mr. Kharge said he cannot visit the two districts as the legislature session is going on.

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