Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council K.S. Eshwarappa said that the BJP leaders would ask the Centre to intervene to get water released from Ujani Dam in Maharashtra to the Bhima River in Karnataka.
Addressing to presspersons in Kalaburagi on Monday, Mr. Eshawarappa said that a delegation led by former BJP state unit president Prahlad Joshi has met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to seek release of water. He alleged that the lethargic attitude of the state government was the reason for delaying in getting water from Maharashtra.
Mr. Eshwarappa came down heavily on the Rural Development Minister H.K. Patil for failing to keep his promises to set up 7,000 pure drinking water units in rural areas across the state within three years. The government has distributed only 1,000 pure drinking water units to rural areas in the last three years.
Accusing the government for claiming that of distributing 1,400 pure drinking water units to villages, Mr. Eshwarappa said that deadline has been given to the state government to release the list of the villages in which the drinking water units were set up before April 30. If the government failed to release the list, BJP legislators would gherao Mr. Patil at his office at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on May 1, he added.