Having staged a sit-in for over a fortnight in front of the office of Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited (KNNL), farmers of the Malaprabha command area have intensified their agitation over the Mahadayi project and took out a protest march along with bullock carts in Dharwad on Wednesday.
Farmers from Dharwad, Gadag and Haveri took out the protest rally under the aegis of Raita Sena Karnataka from Kadapa Maidan and, after covering the thoroughfares of the city, staged a demonstration by parking their bullock carts in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad.
The protesting farmers said that the agitation for Mahadayi and Kalasa Banduri Nala Project has been the longest agitation post-Independence. During the more than four-decade-long agitation, the farmers have faced police excesses, but they continued the agitation demanding linking of the Mahadayi with the Malaprabha to accelerate irrigation projects in North Karnataka, they said.
Although the prolonged agitation has resulted in the gazette notification of the tribunal’s award, the project is yet to start as successive governments have continued to delay the project citing legal hurdles. The plight of farmers in North Karnataka is pathetic as they are facing another year of deficit rainfall which will finally lead to crop loss, they said.
They urged the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in the State to initiate steps for the early implementation of the project.
Corruption in KNNL
Leading the protest, State President of Raita Sena Veeresh Sobaradmath said that that large-scale corruption and irregularities have been reported in the KNNL which covered 22 districts.
KNNL has become stagnant water with no benefit for the farmers. This apart, several officials have caused huge loss to the Exchequer by indulging in corruption, he said and demanded a CBI probe into KNNL affairs.
The State government should declare North Karnataka as drought-hit and award compensation of ₹40,000 per acre for crop loss, he said.
