Treat Hogenakkal as new project: K'taka to Centre

Bangalore, Apr 2: Karnataka Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao today said that the state government had urged the Centre to treat the controversial Hogenakkal drinking water project across Cauvery river as a new project in view of the unresolved inter-state water dispute.

Speaking to reporters here he said he had written a letter to the Union government stating that state government had taken a new stand on the Hogenakkal project following so many new developments taking place after giving assent for its execution in 1998. To a question on Tamil Nadu government's claim that Karnataka did not raise any objections in 1998, he said that the government was now opposing it because of the new developments over the years. He agreed to the point that Tamil Nadu had not taken the permission of the Central Water Commission and Water Resources Ministry for executing the project and said that the Centre should take a fresh view of the project in view of the new developments.

UNI