Mahadayi row: Irked farmers to lead teams to Goa, Maharashtra

HUBBALLI: Irked by nonchalance of elected representatives to evolve a solution to the row over sharing water of the river Mahadayi, farmers’ leaders are planning to lead delegations to Chief Ministers of Goa and Maharashtra in order to draw their attention to acute shortage of drinking water in drought hit districts of north Karnataka even as their stir in support of Kalasa Banduri project entered 500th day on Saturday.

These farmers are contemplating a review of their strategy to intensify the agitation after the ongoing legislature session as a discussion on the issue turned out to be a damp squib with most legislators of the region skipping the proceedings. There was a ray of hope among farmers when Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, took the initiative to commence a dialogue after the Mahadayi tribunal advised all three states to resolve the issue through negotiations. Their hopes, however, were dashed after the meeting was postponed at the behest of Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar. Some state BJP attributed the move to forthcoming Assembly elections in Goa as the party will suffer jolt if he attended the meeting. Now, farmers’ leaders have expressed displeasure against leaders of all parties who played out the blame-game during the legislature session.

Therefore, they staged an agitation by blocking Hubballi-Vijaypur NH in Nargund where the movement was launched on July 15 last year to commemorate 500th day of agitation. “We are holding discussions with various farmers’leaders and religious heads in the forefront of the Mahadayi movement. We will lead a delegation of farmers and experts to Goa and Maharashtra if legislators fail to find a solution to the dispute during the legislature session. Speaker K B Koliwad should take action against legislators belonging to north Karnataka but skipped the discussion on the issue. CM Siddaramaiah should exert more pressure on his counterpart in Goa instead of merely writing a letter to him,” farmers’ leader Veeresh Sobaradmath told DC.

He also stressed the need for an intervention by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to resolve the issue. They are also contending that farmers and cattle in Malaprabha river basin are facing acute shortage of drinking water as river has totally dried up. Hundreds of farmers are holding dharna at the reservoir in Navilutheertha of Savadatti taluk from Saturday demanding release of water to the river. “Effluents from sugar factories and drainage water led to stench in the river and this may cause spread of many contagious diseases. Therefore, diversion of water from Mahadayi basin to Malaprabha river will rid the farmers from recurring drought,” says Vijay Kulkarni, president of Kalasa Banduri Horata Samiti.