Bengaluru, July 11: Central Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy criticized Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday. Shivakumar had stated that Karnataka has agreed to the proposed river linking project connecting the Krishna, Godavari, and Cauvery rivers.
Kumaraswamy raised concerns about how the state could agree to such a project before determining its share of water. Speaking to the media in Bengaluru, he accused the Chief Minister of acting irresponsibly regarding a crucial issue tied to Karnataka’s irrigation interests.
Kumaraswamy expressed that he has no objection to the principle of linking rivers, emphasizing that the project should indeed be implemented. However, he insisted that the government must ascertain how much water would be allocated to Karnataka before giving its consent.
He claimed that the Chief Minister lacks adequate knowledge of Karnataka’s irrigation issues and has made statements without understanding the facts. Kumaraswamy pointed out that matters related to river linking and water distribution cannot be handled like real estate transactions in Bengaluru.
He stated that if the Chief Minister was unaware of the technical details, he should have consulted irrigation experts, engineers, or the legal team representing Karnataka before making public statements.
Referring to the Chief Minister’s recent comments in Belagavi, Kumaraswamy demanded clarification based on those statements. He accused Shivakumar of being overly generous regarding Karnataka’s water resources. Citing the recent inauguration of the Tungabhadra reservoir’s crest gates by the Chief Ministers of three states, Kumaraswamy questioned why Karnataka is spending money while neighboring states benefit from the water.
He also criticized the Chief Minister for discussing desilting the Tungabhadra reservoir with neighboring states without informing the opposition or the people of Karnataka. Furthermore, he objected to Shivakumar’s claim that the central government would declare the river linking project a national project. Kumaraswamy reiterated that while he has no objection to the project, the government must first clarify how much water Karnataka will actually receive.
He urged the Chief Minister to understand the history and current status of the river linking proposal. According to him, the detailed project report (DPR) prepared in 2023 planned to utilize 247 TMC of water under the Krishna-Godavari-Cauvery river linking project. He claimed that under that proposal, Andhra Pradesh was to receive 90 TMC, while Telangana and Tamil Nadu were allocated 60 TMC each. Initially, Karnataka was not allocated any water.
He noted that after persistent efforts by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Karnataka was later allocated 15 TMC from the Malaprabha River, but the condition was that it could only be used for drinking water.
Kumaraswamy questioned how the Chief Minister could assert that Karnataka supports this project and is ready to invest ₹1 lakh crore, demanding the basis for such statements. He raised concerns about whether the Central Water Commission or the National Water Board had discussed this proposal before the announcement of Karnataka’s consent.
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