The Hindu : CM's visit to districts yields little

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 22, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

CM's visit to districts yields little

By Our Special Correspondent

KUMARAPATNA (HAVERI Dt.) APRIL 21. The much-publicised visit of the Chief Minister, S.M.Krishna, to the districts to review the drinking water situation turned out to be a hurried affair here on Saturday.

Mr. Krishna, accompanied by a retinue of officials, led by the Chief Secretary, A.Ravindra, had planned a review of the drinking water situation in Haveri, Davanagere, and Chitradurga districts. The venue was the auditorium of the Grasim factory in Kumarapatna in Ranebennur taluk on the border of Davanagere District.

All the elected representatives of the three districts, including MLAs, had been invited for the meeting along with officials led by the deputy commissioners and chief executive officers of the ZPs.

The original plan was that the Chief Minister would conduct a review in the evening and make a night halt there before proceeding to Mumbai on Sunday. But later on, the plan to make a night halt was cancelled. The change was reportedly made to enable the Chief Minister to attend a function in connection with the marriage of the daughter of K.H.Srinivasa, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, on Saturday evening. This limited the Chief Minister's stay in Kumarapatna as the helicopter had to take off to Bangalore before sunset. Added to this was the fact that the Chief Minister, who had a string of programmes in Haveri and Kaginele, arrived here late.

It could not be immediately ascertained how many of the elected representatives of the districts attended the meeting, but it appeared that the contingent from Haveri District was the largest.

Of the ministers in charge of the three districts, only two were present -- Sageer Ahmed (Haveri) and Mallikarjun (Davanagere). K.H.Ranganath, who is in charge of Chitradurga District, was conspicuous by his absence. At the end of the meeting a group of people from Chitradurga approached the Chief Minister to narrate their tale of woe.

Of the MPs, only I.G.Sanadi (Dharwad South) was present. When the legislators were asked to speak, a majority of them, including K.B. Koliwad, Congress MLA from Ranebennur and a ministerial aspirant, began praising the Chief Minister rather than articulating the plight of the people. The Chief Minister was lauded for providing a good administration.

However, Vadnal Rajanna, who defeated J.H.Patel in the Assembly elections, and Syed Ajjampeer Quadri, MLA from Shiggaon in Haveri District, tried to effectively highlight the problems of the people. Kariyanna, President of the Channagiri Taluk Panchayat, proved to be a good foil for Mr. Rajanna.

Mr. Rajanna and Mr. Kariyanna spoke about the reluctance of the officials to take up drinking water works despite the release of funds by the Government and the presentation of estimates.

Mr. Quadri said a tank built at a cost of Rs. 22 crore had become useless and sought the release of another Rs. 22 crore for bringing water from the Varada to the tank.

An MLA from Chitradurga District said people of the district were looking forward to the visit of the Chief Minister.

Some of the MLAs spoke about the situation they would find themselves in if the drinking water problem was not tackled. "If the situation does not improve, we will have to face the wrath of the people," they said.

The Chief Minister admitted that it was a hurried meeting and apologised for arriving late.

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