State yet to hear from Centre: CM

By Our Staff Correspondent

HIDKAL DAM (Belgaum Dt.), JAN. 21. ``I have not yet received a reply from the Prime Minister,'' the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M.Krishna, said to a question on the response from Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee to his letter seeking the Centre's intervention to direct the Andhra Pradesh not to go ahead with the construction of five projects using the surplus waters of the Krishna under Scheme B of the Bachchawat Award.

He was talking to presspersons here just before boarding the helicopter to return to Bangalore after laying the foundation stone for Shri Sangam Sahakara Sakkare Karkhane Niyamit here on Sunday afternoon.

It may be noted here that in his letter to the Prime Minister over two weeks ago, Mr. Krishna, while reportedly conveying the views of the State on the move made by Andhra Pradesh to construct five reservoirs to utilise the surplus waters of the Krishna, had also said that Karnataka would approach the Supreme Court with a contempt petition against the Andhra Pradesh Government and take other legal measures to protect the interests of the State.

Asked how confident he was in getting justice from the Centre which allegedly had a soft corner for the Andhra Pradesh Government owing to the nature of the NDA setup, Mr. Krishna said: ``We live and believe in federalism. Ours is a federal structure; we hope that the Government of India will be fair to Karnataka. Till now I have had success with the Union Government and hope that the Prime Minister will positively react to the letter I have sent to him.''

When sought to know what he precisely expected from the Prime Minister to see that the interests of Karnataka were protected, Mr. Krishna, switched over to another issue stating, ``our immediate requirement is a matching grant of Rs. 100 crores for our support price mechanism which we have initiated to rescue the farmers who are facing problems due to fall in prices of agricultural produce.''

When his attention was drawn to the latest reported statements of the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr. Vilas Rao Deshmukh, that he would approach the Supreme Court for justice in respect of the long-pending border dispute with Karnataka if the proposed talks with his counterpart in Karnataka failed to find a solution, Mr. Krishna said: ``Our relationship with Maharashtra and its people is extremely cordial, and I don't want anything to happen between the two governments.''

On the apprehensions that the elections to the local bodies which had been postponed owing to a litigation in the High Court over alleged irregularities in the reservation of constituencies, the Chief Minister, who was behind schedule by two hours and was in a hurry to return to Bangalore, said the matter depended on the court verdict.

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