TUMAKURU: Union MoS for Railways and Jalshakti V Somanna on Wednesday held a meeting with those who protested against Hemavathy Express canal at the project site at Sunkapura in Gubbi. He asked them to continue with their agitation demanding that the Rs 1,000 crore project be stalled.
Three legislators and several religious heads were among hundreds of agitators booked for protesting on May 31.
Somanna said he will ensure the project gets modified, and demanded that water should flow naturally using gravity instead of the pipeline to Kunigal.
Somanna claimed to have convinced district in-charge minister and Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara to modify the project. “Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar will also be convinced,” he said. He took the expert panel chief, Jayaprakash, a retired engineer and Shivakumar’s technical advisor, to task as the latter had given a feasibility report in favour of the project.
Sources said pipes worth hundreds of crores have already been procured by the contractor, and the government has already released Rs 300 crore. Shivakumar claimed that 40% of the work has been completed and the project cannot be stopped at this stage, he added.