BELAGAVI
While Karnataka’s dispute with Goa over sharing of Mhadei water is expected to intensify when the State assembly session resumes on Tuesday, the Karnataka government has initiated measures to persuade farmers and the Opposition that the government has taken up the matter seriously.
In this connection, Karnataka Law Minister and Minister for Parliamentary Affairs T B Jayachandra visited the Kalsa rivulet late Friday evening to get first hand information about the prevailing condition at the site.
Though the visit was carried out in a hushed manner with only select senior officials accompanying the minister, official sources said the minister wanted to keep himself abreast of the situation in view of the ongoing winter session and the future hearing with the Mhadei Water Disputes Tribunal.
However, officials and sources close to the minister were tight-lipped when mediapersons asked about the specific purpose of the visit. “It was only an informal visit to the site as the minister had not visited the location earlier,” a senior official said.
Meanwhile, as the agitation of the farmers in Nargund near Dharwad entered the 500th day on Saturday, farmers had staged a rasta roko in the area. Agitating farmers demanding an immediate ‘out-of-tribunal’ solution to the Mhadei water sharing dispute had blocked the Hubbali-Vijayapura NH218 for more than four hours.
Vijay Kulkarni of the Kalsa-Bhandura Horata Samiti, who is spearheading the agitation, said that they plan to intensify their agitation as soon as the winter session resumes in Belagavi on Tuesday.
