Hemavathi link canal row: BJP shouldn’t politicise it, says DKS

Bengaluru: Political differences between the Congress and the BJP over the Hemavathi link canal project continued on Monday, even as Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar claimed that Kunigal taluk had not even got 10% of the due share of its water.

Following the state government’s decision to continue work on the Hemavathi River link canal project, there have been widespread protests, with critics accusing the Congress government of diverting the Hemavathi dam water to Magadi taluk in Ramanagar district.

Addressing a press conference, Shivakumar said, “This was sanctioned when Kumaraswamy was the chief minister. When the BJP came to power, they put the project on hold. Then its cost was Rs 600 crore, but now its cost is nearly 1,000 crore. An amount of Rs 400 crore has already been released and the work has begun. Since 10 years, Kunigal hasn’t even got 10% of the water.”

Rubbishing claims that the water was being “diverted” to Ramanagar, the deputy chief minister said: "There is no need for that, since the Sriranga scheme was already there. For Magadi taluk, 0.6 tmcft of water was supposed to be given to some tanks as planned earlier. Both Tumakuru and Magadi come under Cauvery basin. Is this an interstate dispute?"

Referring to the technical team formed to resolve the issue where BJP-JD(S) MLAs also voiced their opinions, Shivakumar urged BJP not to “politicise” the issue. “I want to tell those MLAs that I can use more words than you. But it's not needed now.”

Speaking at a press conference later, leader of the Opposition R Ashoka tried to debunk Shivakumar’s argument.

“They say BJP is politicising this. What about Gubbi Srinivas? Is he from the BJP? He has opposed this and has stated that he will hit the streets. This shows that the Congress is a divided house.”

Stating that filing cases against farmers and elected representatives was an “unpardonable” offence, he urged the government to immediately convene an all-party meeting of farmers and political leaders from the two districts and resolve the issue amicably.

Background

Tumakuru district has been allotted 24 tmcft of water from the Hemavathi dam.

Leaders and farmers from Kunigal taluk (Tumakuru) have argued that the taluk hasn’t got 3.01 tmcft of water that was allotted to the taluk. Alongside the opposition from BJP-JD(S) MLAs from Tumakuru, Gubbi MLA S R Srinivas (Congress) has also opposed the move.

Earlier, there had been a dispute over sharing water from Hemavathi dam between Tumakuru and Hassan districts, believed to be one of the reasons for former PM H D Deve Gowda’s defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Tumakuru as Congress-JD(S) candidate.