State govt is not responding to cries of farmers: BJP MLA

Belagavi: Criticizing the coalition government MLA and BJP leader Abhay Patil said that the government has failed to respond to the cries of farmers in drought-hit north Karnataka.

Addressing presspersons here Abhay said that if the Chief Minister and his Cabinet members were serious, water would have flown into the Krishna from Maharashtra’s dams by now.

He further questioned, “why is the state government silent when the people are suffering from scarcity of drinking water?”

Meanwhile, the action committee of Kannada organisations in Belagavi district has sent a letter to Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy for neglecting north Karnataka.

In their letter, they questioned Kumaraswamy, “Would your reaction be similar if south Karnataka districts suffered from such a severe water scarcity?”

It may be recalled that the State government had written to Maharashtra requesting the release of Krishna waters impounded in its dams. However, water is yet to reach the parched villages on the river banks in Belagavi, Bagalkot and Vijayapura districts.

The State government maintained that this delay is owing to Maharashtra’s insistence on a water-for-water agreement with Karnataka. But the Opposition parties and activists have put the blame on the State government, saying it is being negligent about the problems of north Karnataka.