SHIMOGA: Minister for Water Resources K.S. Eshwarappa said here on Tuesday that the manner in which the Centre had submitted its affidavit to the Supreme Court on its stand on the dispute between Karnataka and Goa over the implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri project showed its bias against Karnataka.

Reacting to the direction given by the Supreme Court to the Centre to file another affidavit within two weeks after rejecting the plea by the Goa Government that sought a stay on the project, Mr. Eshwarappa warned that the Centre would face the wrath of the people of the State if it did not stop adopting a step-motherly attitude towards Karnataka on the issue.

He hoped the Centre would react to the points raised by the Supreme Court, in its revised affidavit.

Mr. Eshwarappa said he had convened a special meeting in Bangalore on Wednesday with legal experts and senior officers of the Irrigation Department to discuss the situation arising out of the Supreme Court's rejection of the Goa Government's plea as well as its direction to the Centre to file another affidavit.

He said he would also discuss the matter with Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa before deciding on the next course of action.

Mr. Eshwarappa said that by being silent on several points in its affidavit, the Congress-led UPA Government at the Centre had extended its indirect support to the Congress Government in Goa mainly for "political considerations".

`Work will go on'

He however made it clear that the ongoing work on the project would not be stopped under any circumstance as it was being taken up using hardly 7.5 tmcft of the 200 tmcft of water allocated to Karnataka.

Besides, he said, the forest area was not being touched in the project.

Mr. Eshwarappa said the fact that the Supreme Court had rejected the Goa Government's plea should be construed as a vindication of the State Government's stand on the issue.

Opposing tribunal

Mr. Eshwarappa said that the main reason why the State Government was opposing the formation of a separate tribunal for resolving the dispute was that it would lead to a delay in its settlement.

He said all the parties in the State were supporting the Government's stand on the issue.

Mr. Eshwarappa wondered how Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the other Ministers concerned were keeping silent even after an all-party delegation from Karnataka had made its stand clear and had sought their intervention in the matter.

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