Cauvery: Cong demands protection of K'taka's rights

Bangalore, May 12: Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly N Dharam Singh today urged the state government to take urgent measures to safeguard the interests of farmers in the Cauvery delta region in the wake of reports that the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal was likely to restrict the state from expanding its command area.

Talking to reporters here, Mr Singh said assessors of the crop water requirement in the four riparian states had reportedly suggested the Tribunal to allocate a lion's share of the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu and just 251 tmc to Karnataka. If this was true, it would severely harm the interests of the state farmers, he added.

He said based on the report filed by the assessors on crop water requirement, Tribunal Chairman Justice N P Singh had directed the state governments concerned to give their views on the report within five weeks.

Opining that the report was detrimental to the farming community in the state, Mr Singh urged the government to take a serious view of it and protect the state's legitimate share of water.

Asked about the opposition to the proposed ultra thermal power project at Tadadi in North Canara district, he said that keeping in mind the acute power crisis in the state, the government should make all efforts to convince those against the project and ensure that the state did not lose it to other states.

He also urged Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy to convene a meeting of environmentalists and swamijis protesting against the project.

On the outcome of the elections to five state assemblies, Mr Singh said the ''humilitating'' defeat suffered by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in all the states showed that people no longer supported ''communal'' and ''divisive'' forces.

''The results are also a warning signal to former Prime Minister and JD (S) Supremo H D Deve Gowda who has joined hands with the BJP to form a government in the state.''

UNI