Belgaum: Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy will soon lead an all-party delegation to the Centre and meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz to press for early clearance of the Kalasa-Banduri Nala diversion scheme to meet the drinking water requirements of parts of Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag and Bagalkot districts.

This comes against the backdrop of Goa giving its consent to Maharashtra to utilise Mahadayi waters for its proposed 200 MW hydel power generation plant at Virdi in Maharashtra.

Mr. Kumaraswamy said although he was not interested in singling anyone out, successive governments at the Centre had not done justice to the State on the issue. Be it sharing of the Cauvery waters, the Krishna waters or the use of its own waters from the Kalasa and Banduri nalas (tributaries of the Mahadayi) to provide drinking water to water-starved areas.

Tadari project

The Chief Minister promised to do everything to ensure that the Tadari power project proposal was not taken away from Karnataka. "We will do our best to ensure that the Tadari project comes up without any hurdles by taking environmentalists into confidence," he said.

The Chief Minister said the two-member committee (headed by G.S. Gurusiddaiah, Under-Secretary, Department of Revenue), which conducted an inquiry into the alleged large-scale irregularities amounting to crores of rupees in the distribution of relief and implementation of relief work in the district was yet to submit its report. He said the Government would take action against those found guilty of irregularities.

Border dispute

To a question on Maharashtra reportedly urging the Centre to keep Belgaum under Central rule till the Supreme Court disposed its suit on the boundary dispute with Karnataka, Mr. Kumaraswamy said the State was committed to protect its territories. The previous government had submitted its response to Maharashtra's suit.

Mr. Kumaraswamy thanked his Maharashtra counterpart, Vilasrao Deshmukh, for responding to his request to release water from Koyna Dam into the Krishna to provide drinking water to parts of the border taluks in Belgaum district.

Maharashtra released 2 tmcft of water, which has entered Karnataka.

The Chief Minister said he was satisfied with the "good work" resulting from his `Janata Darshan' meeting with members of public. He had been able to redress long-pending grievances of people, he said, adding that the programme would continue.

Vikasa Soudha

The Chief Minister said he had asked the district administration to identify three acres of land to build a Vikasa Soudha in Belgaum to convene legislature sessions to address regional issues.

A delegation of leaders, including Ashok Chandargi representing the Kalasa-Banduri Nala Horata Samiti, met the Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister K.S. Eshwarappa on Sunday night and apprised them of the Maharashtra-Goa agreement and the possible adverse impact on water availability in the Kalasa-Banduri streams in the State.

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