HUBBALLI: “If the Mahadayi dispute is resolved now, at least the next generation may get some benefit,” Magundappa Neeralkeri (50), a farmer from Shirol village of Gadag district, says. Magundappa has grown up knowing about this dispute and political parties, over the years, assuring to resolve it, especially during poll time. But nothing has come of it.
Magundappa has eight acres of arid land which is entirely dependent on rain for farming. He is not alone. A majority of farmers in the tail-end of Malaprabha right bank canal are dependent on rain. If the Kalasa-Banduri project becomes a reality, it will not only help the farmers irrigate their land, but also solve drinking water problems in the area.
The farmers are well aware of how the Kalasa-Banduri issue is being politicised. And this is precisely why many farmers have been protesting in the region for the past 30 months. They say that apart from lip service by the government and the opposition parties, they have not got any concrete assurance that this decades-old dispute will end.
The agitating farmers were hoping that the Modi government will take some action after the Goa election and before the Karnataka Assembly polls. But political dynamics changed after a new coalition government, headed by Manohar Parikkar, assumed charge in Goa.
The BJP is not in a commanding position as the government it is leading enjoys very thin majority and has to take the coalition partners into confidence before taking any vital decision, that too related to inter-state disputes.
But, after BJP national president Amit Shah’s intervention, a change is seen in the stand of the Goa government. In a letter written to BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa, Parikkar has not opposed sharing water for drinking purposes. He has also agreed to consider working out an amicable settlement, but has added a rider that it is “strictly to meet drinking water needs of the drought prone area”. This may have disappointed the farmers.
However, farmers’ leaders say they have been hearing such assurance from years. Their lone demand is intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in resolving the dispute by holding consultations with chief minister of Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra. Since no such assurance was given, the farmers have decided to take on all the political parties in the ensuing polls.
Lokanath Hebasur, who is leading agitation at Navalgund, said, “They are not interested in politics, but the interests of people. If the PM commits to initiate dialogue with all chief ministers to resolve the dispute out of the tribunal, they will withdraw from poll fray”. Magundappa also agree with the opinion of Hebasur as the farmers here have decided to teach a lesson to political parties.