BJP State president B.S. Yeddyurappa has said that the BJP would accord priority to improving the storage capacity of all the reservoirs in the State, if voted to power in the next Assembly elections.
En-route Koppal to study the drought situation, Mr. Yeddyurappa visited the Tungabhadra dam in Hosapete on Monday where farmers have taken up the work of removing silt in the dam. “It is heartening to see that the farmers themselves have started removing the silt from the dam to open the eyes of the ruling Congress government. I fully support the farmers in their endeavour which is very sacrosanct. However, it is also painful that neither the Water Resources Minister nor Agriculture Minister have visited and extend support and encouraged them,” he added.
Mr. Yeddyurappa, while stating that it was necessary to seek expert opinion on such major issues, said that he will speak to experts on irrigation and the Union Minister for Water Resources to suggest measures to remove the silt and increase the storage capacity. “I will also talk to Prime Minister Narenedra Modi over releasing special grants for this purpose,” he said.
When pointed out that Karnataka could not take any unilateral decision on the issue and that the consent of the Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana was necessary as the Tungabhadra dam was an inter-State project, Mr. Yeddyurappa reiterated that he would first talk to the Union government and experts and then it would be easy for him, if BJP party came to power, to talk to his counterparts in the two States.
He came down heavily on the Congress government for not initiating any steps to find a solution to the reduced storage capacity of the Tungabhadra dam. “CM Siddaramaiah has failed to implement the promise made to the people of the Krishna basin of spending ₹10,000 crore anually for irrigation projects,” he said.
Later, addressing party workers and farmers, Mr. Yeddyurappa, while complimenting the farmers for taking up a major cause, exhorted his party leaders to extend full support, including financial help, to ensure that the ongoing work could be continued till the onset of monsoon.
B. Sriramulu, Shobha Karandlaje, and Karadi Sanganna, all MPs, and C.T. Ravi, Govind Karjol, and Katta Subramanya Naidu, all former Ministers, were among the others present.
