The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Counter Maharashtra's claim, says Yediyurappa

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Sep 02, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Counter Maharashtra's claim, says Yediyurappa

Staff Reporter

BJP to launch agitation if Government fails to act

B.S. Yediyurappa

BANGALORE: The Maharashtra Government has indulged in unethical and clever practices to build up make-believe evidence against the State to demand an undue share of Krishna waters under Scheme B of the Bachawat Tribunal Award, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly B.S. Yediyurappa has alleged.

He told presspersons here on Thursday that the Supreme Court and the Bachawat Tribunal in their respective rulings have unambiguously observed that the maximum storage at the Alamatti dam be kept at 519.6 m. But the Maharashtra Minister for Water Resources reportedly stated at a press conference that the Centre has asked Karnataka to restrict the storage to 509 m, ignoring the rulings given by the two august bodies. His reported statement amounted to running down the verdict of the Supreme Court and the award of the Bachawat Tribunal on the maximum storage to be maintained at the Alamatti dam. It is unfortunate that even Union Minister for Water Resources Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, has reportedly overlooked both the rulings in responding positively to Maharashtra's motivated claims, ignoring the legal position, he said.

The purpose of the Maharashtra Government is to raise another controversy on the sharing of Krishna waters, create confusion and gain advantage through presenting fake evidence. Its intention can be discerned from the interest it showed in storing waters in all its five dams in July instead of September. It deliberately released water from its dams even as villages and towns across the border Karnataka were coping with unprecedented floods, he said.

Mr. Yediyurappa attacked the Government for what he called its complacent attitude towards the serious issue and its failure to draw the Centre's attention to the manoeuvrings of the Maharashtra Government.

"Our Minister for Water Resources M. Mallikarjun Kharge believes only in issuing statements. Even Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh did not think that it was his right to give a fitting reply to Union Minister for the Petroleum and Natural Gas Mani Shankar Aiyar when the latter passed an undue comment on the sensitive Cauvery waters issue forgetting that he was on an official visit to the State representing the Union Government. The Government and the Congress leaders have failed to protect the State's interests and assert their political will," Mr. Yediyurappa said.

He demanded that Mr. Dharam Singh, who is already in Delhi to lead an all-party delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, draw Dr. Singh's attention to the Maharashtra Government's motives.

Stir threat

If the Government fails to take concrete measures to counter Maharashtra's politicking over the sensitive issue, the Bharatiya Janata Party will hold protest demonstrations throughout the State, he said.

Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council D.H. Shankaramurthy demanded that the Government initiate legal action against the Maharashtra Government.

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

Karnataka