Will implement Paramashivaiah report if elected, says HDK

The controversial G S Paramashivaiah report on river diversion would be implemented immediately, if he and his party were re-elected to power, said former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday.

He was addressing the gathering which watched a documentary film ‘Mathe Bara Beda’: A permanent solution for drinking water problems in Bayaluseeme districts and Bangalore,’ produced by Aseema Akshara, Bangalore. Kumaraswamy said there had been an inordinate delay in bringing water to the parched Bayaluseeme (dryland) districts.

He urged the State government to convene a meeting of technical experts, people of the affected districts and the Western Ghats and stakeholders to discuss the implementation of the recommendations.

“We have wasted seven to eight years in deliberations alone. Great injustice has been meted out to Karnataka with respect to sharing of the waters of Cauvery and Krishna rivers by the Centre and the neighbouring states. But the people of the Bayaluseeme region are the worst hit. I will be the first to implement the Paramashivaiah report, if I am re-elected,” he said.

The film is produced by the London-based doctor Dr Madhu Seethappa and directed by Lakshmipathi Kolar. The documentary traces the history of irrigation projects and schemes from the British era to the present day. The focus, however, is the plight faced by people of Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Tumkur, Chitradurga, Davangere and Hassan, who face shortage of water and health hazards due to consumption of borewell water containing fluoride.

In the film, Union Minister K H Muniyappa has expressed his disagreement to Union Minister Veerappa Moily’s decision to implement the Yettinahole project, and has demanded that the Paramashivaiah report be implemented instead.

CPM’s Sreeram Reddy alleged that there was no political will to implement the Paramashivaiah report, and attacked Moily for pushing the Yettinahole project.
“People of Dakshina Kannada are known to mislead others. Moily is doing exactly that,” he said.