State delegation to discuss Kalasa-Banduri with Modi on Aug 24

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss with an all-party delegation from Karnataka the implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri project for providing drinking water to some North Karnataka districts, at a meeting on August 24 in New Delhi.

The confirmation of the PM’s appointment came from different BJP leaders, including Union Ministers Ananth Kumar, D V Sadananda Gowda and party state president Pralhad Joshi on Friday.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday had publicly expressed his disappointment that the appointment he had sought with Modi to discuss the project had got no response.

The project will augment drinking water supply to the districts of Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag. It involves building barrages across Kalasa and Banduri tributaries of the Mahadayi river to divert 7.56 tmc of water to the Malaprabha river. However, Goa has raised objections, stalling the project’s take-off.

Several organisations and seers, especially in Belagavi and Dharwad, have been protesting for the last 15 days demanding early execution of the project Addressing the media in Bengaluru, Joshi said that BJP leaders from Karnataka, Ananth Kumar, Gowda and he had met Modi recently and got the appointment.

Seeking time
Siddaramaiah on Thursday had said that his office had written to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) a fortnight ago seeking time with Modi but the state was yet to receive a reply.

Joshi alleged that Siddaramaiah was trying to politicise the issue. “Siddaramaiah is trying to give a message to the people of North Karnataka that he had sought the appointment to discuss the Kalasa-Banduri project, but this is far from the truth. There is no mention of the project in the first letter written to the PMO. Only in the letter written three to four days ago there is a mention of the project,” he added. The state government has convened an all-party meeting on August 23 to discuss the implementation of the project.