Karnataka to seek time with PM over Almatti issue
The Karnataka government will seek time with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil to discuss the issue of the Almatti reservoir across the Krishna in view of the objection raised by the Maharashtra government over raising the dam's height.
'After Chief Minister Siddaramaiah responds to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's letter, I will seek time from the Prime Minister and the Jal Shakti Minister,' Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar told presspersons here on Tuesday. In the next two days, Mr. Siddaramaiah is expected to reply to the objection from the Maharashtra Chief Minister, he said here, after inspecting the venue where Kempe Gowda Jayanti is to be held this year.
Mr. Shivakumar said, 'We will also share the Chief Minister's letter with all the members of Parliament [from the State] so that they can take it up in the House. We will seek an appointment with the Prime Minister after that. It is important that all of us safeguard the State's interests together.'
Meanwhile, he said the government would lay the foundation stone for the Kempe Gowda Development Authority on June 27 and celebrate Kempe Gowda Jayanti. A museum on Kempe Gowda will also come up on the allotted land, he said. 'Our local leaders have suggested swapping the allotted land with the land belonging to the Social Welfare Department since it also has an auditorium. A railway line will also pass through this place, and a station will be built there. This will be taken up in the Cabinet meeting,' he added.
Asked if the land was too far from the city, he said, 'Bengaluru has grown now, where else can we allot the land? No one is willing to part with the golf course and racecourse.'
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