The Hindu : Karnataka News : Minister threatens to resign if canal work is substandard

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka

Minister threatens to resign if canal work is substandard

Staff Correspondent

DAVANGERE: Confusion over the use of very little steel in the Bhadra canal modernisation work has assumed serious proportions with S. A. Ravindranath, Minister for Sugar and Davangere district in-charge, declaring that he was ready to sacrifice his post if work on the canal was not taken up properly.

Addressing farmers at the Bhadra Reservoir Project, after offering “Bagina” to the Bhadra on Monday, Mr. Ravindranath said he had tried to convince Deputy Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa and Minister for Water Resources K. S. Eshwarappa on the importance of using adequate quantity of steel in the modernisation work, which was to be undertaken after a long gap of 43 years.

He said he had urged Mr. Yediyurappa and Mr. Eshwarappa not to go by the version of K. C. Reddy, technical adviser to the Government, and urged them to sanction an additional amount of Rs.130 crore towards reconstruction work.

Farmers’ lifeline

He said the Bhadra reservoir had been the lifeline of the farmers of Davangere and surrounding areas, and that the Government had decided to modernise the canals which were constructed 43 years ago, at a cost of Rs. 920 crore. If modernisation work was not done properly, such massive expenditure would be infructuous, he said, adding that sanctioning another Rs.130 crore for purposes of development would not be a burden on the Government.

Quality

He reiterated that he would not compromise on the quality of work being done, and said that he would not hesitate to resign if quality was not ensured in the work.

Mr. Ravindranath criticised the recommendations made by Mr. K. C. Reddy in the modernisation work.

He said Mr. Eshwarappa and senior officials of the Niravari Nigam would come to Davangere on August 16 to discuss the issue of use of steel in modernisation work.

G. M. Siddeshwar, Davangere MP, also criticised the recommendations made by Mr. K. C. Reddy and said that he had apprised Chief Minister H. D. Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa on the issue when they had come to Harihar a few days ago. He said that the farmers had sacrificed sowing work to facilitate modernisation work on the canal, and substandard work would not be tolerated.

B. P. Harish, Chairman of the Bhadra Command Area Development Authority(CADA) and Lingaraju of Okkuta spoke.

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