BELAGAVI
The Kalsa-Bhandura water diversion issue rocked both houses of the Karnataka State Legislature on Saturday, during the ongoing budget session in Bangaluru.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah assured the people of Karnataka that he is initiating talks with leaders of all parties in the state, to lead one more delegation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an “out of court” settlement to the issue.
In his address to the joint houses on Saturday, Siddaramiah urged leaders of all the parties to join hands with him in a delegation to the Prime Minister once again in the interest of the people of Karnataka.
“The Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 provides a role for the Central government in adjudicating conflicts surrounding inter-state rivers that arise among the state governments. Hence, the prime minister can convene a meeting of chief ministers of the states of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka and resolve the issue on humanitarian grounds,” said Siddaramiah, stating that he would seek an appointment with the prime minister.
He also urged the BJP leaders in the state not to maintain silence and urge the Prime Minister to intervene and resolve the issue in the interest of the people of north
Karnataka.
Referring to the Telgu-Ganga dispute between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, Siddaramiah said, “Late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had convened the meeting of the chief ministers of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh and resolved the issue making the water of River Krishna for the drinking water needs of Chennai.”
It may be recalled that an all-party meeting had earlier met Prime Minister Modi on August 24, 2015, but the prime minister said he would not intervene until all political parties in the three states “ Goa, Maharashtra and Karnataka “ came to an agreement on
the issue.
“We did not get a positive response from the PM for our plea to convene and mediate a meeting of CMs of all the affected states to resolve the issue out-of-court, but we must not give up and must make another attempt in this direction,” said Siddaramaiah, who had led the delegation in August 2015.
