MANDYA:
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Karnataka president ‘Mukhyamantri’ Chandru on Saturday lashed out at Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Cauvery issue and said that BJP MPs should be the slaves to the people of the state and not of the central government.
Mandya District Farmers’ Welfare Committee and AAP protested in Mandya today against the issue of Cauvery water sharing between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu against the release of water to Tamil Nadu. Many party leaders including AAP Bangalore women unit president Kushala Swamy, and state social media department chief Darshan Jain participated in the protest.
M Chandru spoke on this occasion, “The central government is responsible for the escalation of the problem. All MPs elected by the state are directly responsible in this matter. Even though the struggles are going on over the Cauvery issue, MPs are not talking about anything. All the BJP MPs who were supposed to be slaves to the people of the state have become slaves to the central government. They are ignoring the ongoing struggle for water in their attempt to become MP again from the BJP.”
He further said that this problem has existed since pre-independence. All post-independence governments have struggled to deal with this problem. They have failed to protect the interest of the state and have done injustice to the state.
“No government has tried to solve the problem but worked for political gain. The Mandya District Farmer Welfare Committee has started a struggle in this regard,” he said.
“The ruling parties in the state have done injustice to the state in the issue of Cauvery River water sharing and goat herding. Drinking water crisis raised. However, they have completely failed to explain the material situation to the court regarding the issue of water,” he added.
Later, Darshan Puttannaiah, the MLA of Raitha Sangh went to the place where the protest was held and showed his support.
Aam Aadmi Party State President Dr Mukhyamantri Chandru, farmer leader Sunanda Jayaram, former minister DC Tammanna, Dr K Annadani, former MLA Atmananda, Swami Gowda and others were present on Mandya District Hitarakhshana Vedike headed stage in the morning.
The Cauvery water issue has been a controversial issue between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for decades and they have been locked in a battle over the sharing of water from the Cauvery River, which is a major source of irrigation and drinking water for millions of people in the region.
The Centre formed the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) on June 2, 1990, to adjudicate disputes between Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Puducherry with respect to the water-sharing capacities.
The Cauvery is an interstate basin that originates in Karnataka and passes through Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry before draining into the Bay of Bengal.
The total watershed of the Cauvery basin is 81,155 sq km, of which the river’s catchment area is about 34,273 sq km in Karnataka, 2,866 sq km in Kerala and the remaining 44,016 sq km in Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. (ANI)
