JD-S to launch agitation over pending water disputes says ex-PM Deve Gowda

BENGALURU: Janata Dal-S supremo and former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda on Sunday announced that his party would launch a state-wide campaign demanding all pending water disputes, including that pertaining to the Krishna, Mahadayi, and Cauvery rivers, be resolved.

Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, he said that this state-wide campaign after the conclusion of the 10-day legislature session on September 24.

Emphasising that only a regional outfit like his could find a solution to these three river water disputes, he caustically remarked that national parties (BJP, Congress) "only speak loud on these issues but they do not work wholeheartedly on them".

"National parties often make mockery of the JD-S at public forums and to show them our might and our true concerns for our state people, the JD-S will be launching extensive public campaigns in regions where Krishna, Mahadayi and Cauvery river disputes are still a concern," he said.

Welcoming Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai's meeting with NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and BJP leaders in a bid to find a solution to the Krishna and Mahadayi water sharing dispute between the state and Maharashtra, he said that the JD-S has formed three robust teams which will be spearheading these agitations.

"Though, I will be actively taking part in these agitations but my participation in padayatras will be symbolic, due to my old age," he said.

Regarding the Mekedatu issue, he said that some leaders from Tamil Nadu he had spoken to had advocated a reservoir on the Cauvery at Hogenakkal on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border, and not Mekedatu in Ramanagara district.

"A reservoir at Hogenakkal would mean encompassing a large catchment area whereas in Mekedatu, the catchment area is small," he said. (IANS)

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