Farmers from Belagavi and Bagalkot oppose Ghataprabha water diversion to Dharwad

Farmers protest against diverting Ghataprabha river waters to Dharwad, urging government to reconsider for agricultural needs.

A group of farmers from Belagavi and Bagalkot have urged the State government to reconsider its decision to divert the Ghataprabha river waters from Hidkal dam to Dharwad industrial area.

A delegation of farmers led by the former Minister Shashikant Naik, Sri Gurusiddha Swamiji of Karanji Math, activist Sujit Mulgund and others submitted copies of memorandum to the office of district in-charge Minister Satish Jarkiholi and Deputy Commissioner Mohammed Roshan here on Friday.

This follows meetings of activists and farmers in Belagavi and Bagalkot. They passed a resolution saying, Our Water is Our Right. They condemned plans for water release and vowed to launch a protest against them.

Mr. Naik criticised Industries Minister M.B. Patil and Irrigation Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister, for taking the decision to release Ghataprabha waters to Dharwad without consulting local leaders from Belagavi.

“A statement by Mr. Patil defending the water release decision gives rise to the suspicion that it is a unilateral decision,” Mr. Naik said at a meeting in Belagavi on Thursday.

“We came to know that neither Satish Jarkiholi nor Mohammed Roshan knew of this proposal. Mr. Shivakumar has said that it is not necessary that the district in-charge Minister knows about all happenings in all department. When we approached him, he said he will look into it,” he said.

Mr. Naik said that he does not support Mr. Patil’s statement that Belagavi farmers should not oppose Ghataprabha water diversion to industries in Dharwad.