JOIN USWater stir picks up steam again
It’s agitation mode again in the drought-hit districts in the region for a permanent solution to the drinking water crisis.
The stir, which was restricted to Kolar and Chikkaballapur all these days, is now spreading to six other districts. Local agitation committees are getting ready to spearhead the agitation and there seems to be competition among the various committees.
While there is the CPM and other progressive organisations on the one side, others have teamed up on the other.
The progressive organisations are bitterly opposed to the Yettinahole project, which has the backing of Union Minister Veerappa Moily.
They are hell bent that the G S Paramashivaiah report on irrigation should be implemented at the earliest.
The other group is open to all solutions to the water crisis, including the Paramashivaiah report.
The CPM-led organisations began their agitation through a mega convention in Tumkur, while the other set of agitating groups kickstarted their campaign at Freedom Park in Bangalore.
Both sides have brought out booklets on the way forward and a third one is in the offing. G V Srirama Reddy - State unit secretary of the CPM and leader of the Undivided Kolar District Permanent Irrigation Committee - said the agitation should now take the form of a movement.
“No agitation can sustain if there are only leaders, even as people and activists are left out. Awareness should be created among the people. The agitation should be organised from the grassroots level,” Reddy said.
Meanwhile, Anjaneya Reddy, convenor of the District Permanent Irrigation Agitation Committee, said that he preferred taking along all organisations.
He said they were not opposed to the Yettinahole project, while pressuring the State government to implement the G S Paramashivaiah report.
World Water Day
Both the water agitation committees are planning separate programmes to press for their demand on the occasion of World Water Day on Thursday.
While the Undivided Kolar District Permanent Irrigation Committee has organised a mega protest rally, the District Permanent Irrigation Agitation Committee will hold a convention at the Kalyan Mantap of the Vokkaligara Sangha.