Congress, BJP engage in blame game over Mahadayi project deadlock

A day after the Goa government rejected the State’s offer to hold a dialogue to resolve the Mahadayi river dispute, the Congress and the BJP indulged in a blame game on Sunday.

While the ruling Congress blamed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not making efforts to resolve the issue through talks, the BJP accused Chief Minister Siddaramaiah of politicising the issue.

Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, Siddaramaiah said BJP leaders H NAnanth Kumar, Jagadish Shettar, D V Sadananda Gowda could have impressed upon Modi to resolve the dispute outside the ambit of the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal. “We made sincere efforts, seeking the intervention of Modi ,” he said.

The dispute is over the State’s proposal to build barrages across Kalasa and Banduri, two tributaries of the Mahadayi, and divert 7.56 tmc ft to the Malaprabha river to improve drinking water supply to Belagavi, Dharwad and Gadag districts. Maharashtra and Goa have raised objections to this.

Goa Chief Minister Lakshmikant Parsekar, in a letter dated January 29 to Siddaramaiah, said it would not be proper to hold talks as the matter was before the Tribunal.

Gowda said Siddaramaiah could have sought at least appointments with the chief ministers of Maharashtra and Goa to discuss the Mahadayi issue. “He should have taken the initiative of seeking appointments with the chief ministers. He is blaming the BJP, only to cover up his lapses,” Gowda said.
DH News Service