The Hindu : Front Page : Centre’s help sought to sort out row

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Centre’s help sought to sort out row

Special Correspondent

S.M. Krishna, Baalu meet Manmohan

Wait till Karnataka elections: Krishna

Centre gave NoC
to project in
1998: Baalu

NEW DELHI: With Tamil Nadu’s Hogenakkal project on its border with Karnataka becoming a major political controversy between the two States, the former Karnataka Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, and Union Minister T.R. Baalu, from Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and sought Central intervention to resolve the issue. They met Dr. Singh separately.

Mr. Krishna urged the Prime Minister to exert his influence with Tamil Nadu to ask the State to wait till the Assembly elections were over in Karnataka, while Mr. Baalu urged him to impress upon the State not to obstruct the implementation of the project.

Speaking to reporters later, Mr. Krishna noted that the Assembly elections would be completed within the next two months and said Tamil Nadu could wait until a popular government was in place in Bangalore and then hold discussions to find an amicable solution.

“The harsh language used by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi whom we consider an elder statesman, has provoked reactions in Karnataka leading to unhealthy developments,” he said in an oblique reference to violence in parts of the State.

Asked about Tamil Nadu’s contention that the project was well within its boundary, he said the Cauvery waters were a matter of inter-State dispute and all the riparian States must cooperate to ensure that there was no ill will.

“What would happen if Karnataka starts utilising Cauvery waters within its boundary without referring to other States?”

On Tamil Nadu’s view that it was a drinking water project and there could be objection to it, Mr. Krishna contended that the details had not been made public. “If it is only a drinking water project, it could be considered a humanitarian issue. But, we do not know whether it also provided for power generation or had an irrigation component. ”

Mr. Baalu told reporters that the Centre had given the project a no-objection certificate in 1998 after discussions with the two States. The Union Water Resources Ministry then observed that if Tamil Nadu withdrew its objections to the Bangalore water supply scheme, Karnataka should agree to the Hogenakkal project.

Emphasising that it was purely a drinking water project, he said obstructing it was highly deplorable.

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