Bommai confident of getting Wildlife Board’s approval
Haveri: The Mahadayi project faced setbacks due to Congress, and in 2009, the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi had stated that Karnataka would not receive a drop of Mahadayi water. Although there was no need for a tribunal, they still created one, said former Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Speaking to the media in Haveri on Sunday, he responded to Law Minister H.K. Patil’s statement about taking an all-party delegation to the Centre regarding the Mahadayi issue.
He said that if there was any setback to the Mahadayi project, it was due to Congress. Previously, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had said that Karnataka would not receive a drop of Mahadayi water. Although there was no need for a tribunal regarding the Mahadayi water allocation, they still formed one. The tribunal’s president wasn’t even provided with an office for four to five years, causing delays. They themselves wrote and submitted to the tribunal, and then built a wall on the interlinking canal that we had constructed. All of this is documented in history. Now, the approval of the Wildlife Board must be obtained. Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has already responded to this, and they are confident of getting approval, he said.
About the state government contemplating legal action against the Governor for returning 11 bills, he said that there is room for legal action. Let them proceed, and it will be revealed why the bills were returned. In Bengaluru, permission has been granted to build 40 per cent more on buildings, and a very low rate has been fixed for it. When this happens, it causes problems for sewage, roads, and other infrastructure. This is against the Urban Development Department’s laws. When the BJP was in power, they had rejected it. The bills have been returned keeping the public interest in mind. Asked about the Sharavathi water project for Bengaluru, Bommai said that he wouldn’t speak on the Sharavathi river water issue. If he says he won’t speak, that itself has significance.