Centre won't thrust Bedti river linking on Karnataka, says Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri

Sirsi (Uttara Kannada district): The Centre will not impose the proposed Bedti-Varada river-linking project on the state if the state government says a firm no, Uttara Kannada MP Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri said on Monday.

"The people of the region are opposing the project citing environmental reasons. The successive governments over the years did not allow implementation of mega projects in the environmentally sensitive Uttara Kannada. Why is the Congress government showing interest in preparing the DPR? The Union government will go ahead with the river-linking project only if the state government shows interest," the MP told reporters here on Monday.

"Why did district in-charge minister Mankala Vaidya not oppose when Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the state government will go ahead with the river-linking project," Kageri sought to know.