The delay in implementing the long-pending Kalasa Banduri Nala Project has forced those involved in the agitation to relaunch the Mahadayi agitation unless a clear assurance is given from the Union government.
In a meeting on the issue convened by Kalasa Banduri Horata Samithi at the Karnatak Vidyavardhakh Sangha in Dharwad on Tuesday, the agitators resolved to relaunch the agitation if the Union government fails to give a clear assurance to them on the issue.
Speaking to presspersons after the meeting, farmer leader Shankar Ambali said that first a delegation of farmers and activists will meet Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi in the coming days in their effort to get a clear picture on the Union government’s stand on the issue.
“If there is any delay in taking a concrete step or specific assurance, then the agitators are mentally and physically prepared to relaunch the agitation,” he said.
The farmers of four districts of North Karnataka, Dharwad, Gadag, Belagavi and Bagalkot, have been demanding diversion of Mahadayi river waters to the Malaprabha river through various streams, including Kalasa and Banduri, for the last 47 years. Unfortunately, due to lack of political will, the project has not seen any progress, making the agitation the longest movement post-Independence, he said.
Mr. Ambali said that during the previous BJP regime, the party leaders celebrated vijayotsava saying that the DPR of the project has been sanctioned and water will start flowing in a very short span. However, the project did not progress as the necessary clearances have not been given for the project by the Union government, he said.
Farmer leaders Loknath Hebsur, Shankar Gunnar, Shankargouda Patil, Mahalakshmi Paralshettar, activist Laxman Bakkai and others, who participated in the meeting, demanded that both the State and the Union governments take necessary steps to provide necessary clearances to the project and early execution of the work.
