JOIN USWhy is Congress silent on Mahadayi? ask farmer leaders
Why is Congress silent on the long-pending demand for implementation of the Mahadayi and Kalasa-Banduri project? Why are its leaders not showing the same interest in the Mahadayi project like they are doing for the Mekedatu project? These are the questions raised by farmers of north Karnataka.
Amidst the Covid scare and weekend curfew, Congress leaders are adamant about taking out a padayatra on Sunday (January 9) from Mekedatu to Bengaluru, urging implementation of the Mekedatu project.
However, they are not showing much interest in raising their voice in favour of north Karnataka’s irrigation projects including the Mahadayi project. The four-decade-old demand for implementation of the Mahadayi project has remained a distant dream.
For the past 2,365 days, the farmers under the banner of Raitha Sene have been staging a dharna in Nargund of Gadag district, urging implementation of the Mahadayi project.
The farmers, under the banner of Raitha Sene, launched the Mahadayi agitation on July 16, 2015, in Nargund, - the epicentre of the struggle, and after 2,365 days of continuous dharna nothing has changed on the ground, thanks to political apathy.
When asked, Congress leader N H Konaraddi said, “After the Mekedatu agitation, we will also take up the issue of Mahadayi. We will plan and draw the attention of the state government towards the project.”
Thousands of farmers from 11 taluks of the parched Gadag, Belagavi, Dharwad and Bagalkot districts will be benefited if the Mahadayi project is implemented.
Speaking to DH, Raitha Sene state president Veeresh Sobaradamath, who is spearheading the farmers’ agitation in Nargund, blamed lack of political will for the inordinate delay in implementing the project. “It looks like the ruling party is waiting for the next Assembly elections to gain political mileage from the issue,” he rued.
He said: “We are exploring legal options to take the issue to the logical end. We will continue our agitation until the problem is resolved.”
“It is unfortunate that caste politics is deep-rooted in north Karnataka. It has become an obstacle to development. Not just the Mahadayi issue, many development issues in this region are crying for attention, Sobaradamath added.
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