Minister for Public Works H.D. Revanna on Saturday claimed that officials from Tamil Nadu had visited reservoirs in Karnataka without the knowledge of the Water Resources Department Secretary.
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru, Mr. Revanna sought to clarify that the officials who visited the reservoirs across Karnataka recently were not part of the Central team but were from Tamil Nadu.
He said the officials from Tamil Nadu had noted down the levels in various reservoirs of the State during their visit. Mr. Revanna said he had recently visited Hemavati reservoir in Hassan district and that the water there would barely last a fortnight.
Referring to the protest by farmers in Mandya demanding release of water, Mr. Revanna clarified that the government and the Janata Dal (Secular) would not ignore Mandya and described the protest as part of “politics” played by a few.
“Release of water from the reservoir is not in our hands. We are not ignoring Mandya. For us, Mandya and Hassan are the same,” he said, and accused the political adversaries of the JD(S) of making it a habit of blaming the family of the former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda for everything.
