Bangalore: The Karnatka government on Monday said it would ask the Centre to stop Tamil Nadu from progressing with the Hogenakal drinking water project as pro-Kannada activists demonstrated at theatres screening Tamil films in Bangalore.
"Since it is a controversial project, it is not advisable to be taken up. We will remind this to the Centre. We will write another letter to the Centre and also to the Tamil Nadu asking it not to execute the project," Karnataka Chief Secretary Sudhakar Rao told PTI.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi had on Sunday said that an Rs 1,334-crore project in Hogenakal waterfalls on the border of the two states would be completed at any cost.
He requested political parties and pro-Kannada groups to stop their opposition to the project. In response to his statement, activists of Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) demonstrated in front of seven theatres, tore down posters and stopped screenings of Tamil films in Bangalore.
“We did this to protest against Tamil Nadu’s decision, which is detrimental to Karnataka’s interests,” KRV spokesperson B. Sanneerappa told IANS.
“We are on Tuesday organising a meeting of various pro-Kannada groups, Kannada writers, representatives of Dalit organisations to decide on steps to intensify the agitation, particularly in the Cauvery belt of Mysore, Chamarajnagar and Mandya districts,” he said.
Another group, the Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Party, staged a black flag demonstration of the state Assembly and secretariat and demanded that the Centre halt the project.
"The Centre should immediately order for a joint survey," Vatal Nagaraj urged. He wanted Governor Rameshwar Thakur to meet the Prime Minister to lodge the state’s protest. Karnataka is under President’s rule.
The Hogenekkal project has also angered political parties in Karnataka, particularly the BJP and Janata Dal (S). Former Karnataka chief minister and BJP leader B S Yediyurappa recently visited Hogenekkal with other BJP members and said his party would oppose the project.
State Congress president Mallikharjun Kharge condemned Karunanidhi’s statement, saying it was against the spirit of national unity.
“The people of Karnataka are not weaklings. They can reply in the same manner,” he told reporters. “Tamil Nadu should stop making provocative statements on such sensitive issues.”
(With inputs from IANS and PTI)
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