Bangalore: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on Tuesday told the Legislative Assembly that he would be meeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday to discuss the State's pending projects.

He said he would not be raising the State's concerns about the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal during his meeting with Dr. Singh. That would be done only after the matter was discussed at an all-party meeting to be held before February 22.

Replying to a debate on the subject during Zero Hour, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the Government had sought an appointment with the Prime Minister some time ago, and the meeting was fixed for Wednesday. He would also meet the Union Ministers for Railways, Civil Aviation and Road Transport and Highways during his visit to New Delhi, he said.

Clearing the confusion over the meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the Government had no intention of embarrassing the Opposition parties.

The Chief Minister said the sharing of the waters of the Cauvery was a question of life and death for the people living in the basin districts, and he did not want to politicise it. The people of the State had given a strong message against the tribunal award by their support to the peaceful bandh observed on Monday.

Sand mining

With the final award of the Cauvery tribunal causing dismay among farmers, the illegal and indiscriminate sand mining in some areas of the Cauvery basin, which threatens to affect water flow in the river, is another cause for concern.

The matter was brought to the notice of the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday by K.G. Bopaiah (BJP). He alleged that sand was being mined illegally on a large scale in different areas of Kodagu district. The sand was being taken to Kerala.

Though the Government had constituted district-level task forces headed by deputy commissioners, it had not been possible to prevent sand mining, he said. He expressed concern that this was bound to reduce flows in the river during the coming summer months if preventive action was not taken.

Endorsing his views, MLAs from Kolar district too expressed concern that the water-table was dipping further in the parched district because of sand mining. They urged the Government to prevent it and also suggested that gram panchayats be empowered to deal with the matter.

Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy said the power to deal with sand mining had been taken away from the gram panchayats in 2002, and task forces had been constituted for better monitoring of the system.

But he assured the members that sand mining would be streamlined and he would consider their suggestions.

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