GADAG: As the state government has been demanding its rightful share of water in river-linking projects, which were announced in the recent Union Budget, the ongoing agitation at Naragund for implementing the Mahadayi river diversion project clocked 2,400 days on Thursday.
A group of protesters met Home Minister Araga Jnanendra in Bengaluru and demanded that the project be implemented at the earliest. They also wanted the minister to withdraw cases filed against agitators as promised by the government.
Since there was no mention of the Mahadayi project in the Union Budget, the protesters hoped that the issue would get priority in the state budget, which will be presented by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai in March. All issues around the Mahadayi project should be resolved soon and the state government must go ahead with the project, they pleaded.
Karnataka Raita Sena state president Shankar Ambali said, “We will also meet the chief minister and talk about Mahadayi and other issues related to farmers of our region.” The Mahadayi protest was launched on July 16, 2015 by a group of farmers under the Karnataka Raita Sena banner, headed by Veeresh Sobaradmath. Farmers from near and far started joining the protest, which quickly spread to all towns that come under the Malaprabha river basin, including the twin cities of Hubballi and Dharwad. The agitation got support from all sections, including the Kannada film industry.
Mahadayi project will quench thirst of Belagavi, Gadag dists
As the protest turned intense, the police had resorted to lathi-charge and arrested many agitators from Naragund and Navalgund. The protest continued even during th pandemic with agitators observing the norms.
Over the years, agitators have been taking turns to keep the issue alive, but there has been no progress.The Mahadayi project involves building dams across two tributaries of Mahadayi, Kalasa and Banduri, to divert 7.56 tmcft of water to Malaprabha. The project is expected to meet the drinking water needs of Dharwad, Belagavi, Bagalkot and Gadag districts.