Karnataka - Shimoga   

Centre has not approved the project, says Bangarappa

S. Bangarappa

SHIMOGA: “How can the Dandavati Irrigation Project be implemented when there is no mention about it in the report of the Bachawat Tribunal and when there is no separate allocation of water by the tribunal for the proposed project?” Shimoga MP and former Chief Minister S. Bangarappa has said.

He alleged that the Government was showing “undue haste” in going ahead with the project.

Talking to The Hindu from Bangalore over phone on Sunday, he asked whether the Andhra Pradesh Government would sit quiet if the project was sought to be implemented clandestinely overlooking objections.

“Moreover, a dispute on inter-State water sharing is pending before the Supreme Court. How can the project be implemented before it is disposed of?” he said. “It is nothing but a political drama being enacted in view of the coming Lok Sabha elections,” he said.

“How can the project be implemented when there is no approval [for it] from the Centre and no survey has been taken up”? he said and added that compensation had not been fixed for the land to be acquired for the project.

Mr. Bangarappa, who represented Sorab Assembly constituency from 1967 to 1995, is opposing the implementation of the project on the ground that it is not feasible — both technically and financially.

Reiterating that he would lead a “Singur-type” agitation if the project was sought to be implemented overlooking the mounting opposition to it by people of the taluk, he said that people from areas to be affected by the proposed project had been camping with their family members at the site of the dam to oppose the proposed project.

Noting that the foundation-laying function was being held at Sorab town and not at the site of the dam, Mr. Bangarappa said this showed that the Government was not ready to face the wrath of the people.

Mr. Bangarappa challenged the claim that the project would provide irrigation to nearly 23,000 acres of land. “How can they make such a claim when there is no survey has been conducted?”

When asked whether he would participate in the anti-Dandavati demonstration, he asked “Why should I go there. Local people themselves are capable of opposing the project effectively.”

He said that the consequences would be disastrous if force was used to quell the protest.

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