BELAGAVI
A marathon debate on the Mhadei water sharing dispute with Goa, which was spread over two days, has been the highlight of the nine-day Winter Session of the Karnataka State Legislative which culminates on Saturday.
The fact that Karnataka has taken up the Mhadei issue very seriously was apparent because a resolution seeking Prime Minister's intervention for an ‘Out of Tribunal’ settlement was passed after the marathon discussion.
For the first time, the Mhadei dispute was discussed intensely in both the Legislative Council (Upper House) and Legislative Assembly (Lower House) of the state legislative, before it was concluded in the state Assembly on Thursday.
There were several disruptions during the discussions, due to which both the houses had to be adjourned for several times. On Thursday, ruckus prevailed as BJP members were agitated after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah urged for the Prime Minister's intervention. Questions were also raised over the procrastination observed by the Tribunal.
BJP, the major party in opposition, was rather cornered as Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who during his 30 minutes speech, passed the onus on intervention by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an ‘out of Tribunal’ settlement.
Goa's cold shoulder towards Karnataka’s repeated pleas for an amicable settlement of the issue too came under fire, as many members termed it as a rather inhuman attitude, as Karnataka is seeking drinking water to the parched north Karnataka region.
Apart from seeking a meeting with his Goan counterpart, Siddaramaiah said he would once again take an all party delegation to the Prime Minister, if required.
Former chief ministers H D Kumarwamy, Jagdish Shettar, former minister for water resources H K Patil, present minister for Water Resources M B Patil among several other leaders presented the detailed facts and updates since the inception of the project in the late seventies.
Though questions are being raised from every quarter about the very feasibility of the project, with the issue discussed in the session on priority, farmer leaders like Vijay Kulkarni and others who have expressed their satisfaction have great hopes in Prime Minister's intervention, which they believe would help resolve the issue amicably.
