Just wait and watch developments: Poojary

Senior Congress leader B Janardhana Poojary said if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and former chief ministers D V Sadananda Gowda and M Veerappa Moily had concern towards the people of coastal belt, then they would have dropped Yettinahole project which would be detrimental for the Western Ghats and Dakshina Kannada district.

Briefing mediapersons here on Saturday, he accused them of trying to convert coastal belt into a desert through the implementation of Yettinahole project. The people of Dakshina Kannada would revolt against the government and not allow to convert the district into a desert, he warned.

Stating that the chief minister is falling to the conspiracy of two former chief ministers in implementing the project, Poojary urged him to drop the project. Mockingly, he said, “The chief minister and two former ministers are playing Olympic games in implementing the Yettinahole project and should be honoured with Khel Ratna awards.”

At a recent meeting, the chief minister had directed officials to take measures to speed up the project implementation.  The ministers concerned should ensure proper coordination among all the departments and clear bottlenecks, if any, Siddaramaiah had stated.

“The chief minister should understand the fact that tributaries are the lifelines of river Nethravathi. If tributaries are diverted, then the river will lose its existence. To increase the ground water table, there is a need for the tributaries of river Nethravathi,” he claimed.

When asked on why the chief minister failed to speak to him on the implementation of the project in spite of high command directing him to do so, Poojary said that high command is above the chief minister who is egoistic. “Just wait and watch the developments in the state,” he said.