Massive protest in Tumakuru against Dy CM DK Shivakumar's pet water project
TUMAKURU/BENGALURU: Tension prevailed at Sunkapura in Gubbi taluk of Tumakuru district after a protest against Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar's pet project of 'diverting' the Hemavathi river waters from Tumakuru canal to Ramanagara district intensified at the project site on Saturday.
The agitators, numbering over 5,000, including farmers, led by BJP MLA B Suresh Gowda, JDS MLA MT Krishnappa, and several religious heads, blocked the road. They set tyres on fire and deflated the tyres of several KSRTC buses on the Bengaluru-Shivamogga highway. The police took hundreds of agitators into custody for violating the prohibitory orders under Section 163 of BNSS.
The incident forced Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to intervene and suggest to Tumakuru district in-charge minister Dr G Parameshwara, also the Home Minister, to resolve the issue. Parameshwara later held talks with Shivakumar, who is also the Water Resources Minister, on the sidelines of the DCs and zilla panchayat CEOs meeting in Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, the protestors called off the strike setting a deadline of one month to the government to stop the project.
Parameshwara, defending the Hemavati Express Link Canal as it is being built based on a report given by the technical committee, said BJP's protest was politically motivated.
'It was decided to build the canal at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore. As the work started, BJP opposed it. Shivakumar later held a meeting that was attended by the MPs and MLAs concerned. They demanded that a technical committee be formed and based on its report, the work was being carried out. If the report had said the link canal would cause problems, it would not have been taken up. BJP is opposing it for political reasons,' he said.
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