BJP urges Centre to stop Hogenakkal project

Bangalore, Apr 1 (UNI) The BJP in Karnataka today urged the Centre to stop the ''illegal'' drinking water and hydro-electric project taken up by Tamil Nadu at the Hogenakkal falls area in the inter-state border.

Talking to newspersons at the Raj Bhavan, where a BJP delegation submitted a memorandum to the Governor seeking Centre's relief for the damage caused by unseasonal rains, BJP General Secretary H N Ananth Kumar said, ''Tamil Nadu has started an illegal project across River Cauvery at Hogenakkal, which belongs to Karnataka.'' ''It is an illegal act by the Tamil Nadu Government as Hogenakkal was within the Karnataka border and the river water sharing dispute was not yet resolved with the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal's (CWDT) final verdict being questioned in the Supreme Court,'' he said.

He alleged that the Tamil Nadu Government had not told the CWDT anything about the Rs 1500 crore project, while it also chose to ignore the two letters written by the Karnataka Government in this regard. The Tamil Nadu Government had not taken the permission from the water resources ministry or the Central Water Commission.

''Under these circumstances it will be illegal and against the national democratic setup to take up such illegal projects. The Tamil Nadu Government should respect the sentiments of the people of the neighbouring states and honour the border demarcations,'' Mr Kumar said.

He regretted that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi was giving ''provocative'' statements and the Centre had ''turned a blind eye'' to the issue.

He alleged that the UPA Government at the Centre, during the last four years, had continuously taken an 'anti-Karnataka' stance. This included issues like the Hogenakkal dispute, giving classical status to Kannada, implementation of railway projects, railway recruitment and the affidavit filed on the Belgaum issue, he said.

''We want the Centre to intervene in the Hogenakkal issue immediately and issue an order to stop the illegal project,'' he added.

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