The Kauvery Kanive Raitha Okkoota (KKRO) has urged the Union and State governments to divert urban development funds and projects to districts to prevent the escalation of Cauvery water crisis during distress years.
The KKRO, a recently formed group of rationalists to organise collective and constructive programmes to resolve the Cauvery water crisis, staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office here on Monday.
Extension and implementation of development schemes to district and taluk centres is the need of the hour. Bengaluru is dependent on the Cauvery to meet its increasing drinking water requirements. The comprehensive development of districts would lessen the dependency of Bengaluru on Cauvery, as people and firms would shift to districts, they opined.
Memorandum
In a memorandum submitted to Mandya MP C.S. Puttaraju, the agitators demanded the intervention of President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to solve the issue. The MP was asked to immediately initiate steps to demand their intervention.
They termed the recent apex court’s order on Cauvery water sharing issue as “unilateral, unjust, far from the ground realities” and opined that it spelt the death knell for farmers in the Cauvery region.
The State is facing acute shortage of water even for drinking; but the Supreme Court bench was continuously passing ruling against Karnataka, they lamented.
M.B. Nagannagowda, H.D. Jayaram, M. Krishnamurthy, Shambhunahalli Suresh, Lakshman and others were present.
