Karnataka CM directs officials to speed up drought relief

       
Bangalore, May 8 (PTI) Facing flak over handling of the
drought situation, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah today
directed top officials to ensure relief works on a war footing
in the state where 125 taluks have been declared drought-hit.
        Addressing top officials of different departments in the
presence of senior ministers, Siddaramaiah said funds were not
a constraint for providing drinking water and fodder and added
that Rs 516 crore had been released so far for drought relief
works.
        Governor H R Bhardwaj had last week openly expressed his
unhappiness over the government's handling and said the Chief
Minister must activate the administration to deal with the
drought conditions.
        KPCC Chief G Parameshwara had also asked the Chief
Minister to speed up relief works by taking "proactive steps."
        Principal opposition BJP had in a memorandum to the
Governor yesterday had accused the government of "gross
negligence" and sought his intervention to "wake up
Siddaramiah and his cabinet colleagues from their deep slumber
and focus their attention on combating drought with all
seriousness."
        In the meeting today, Siddaramaiah said 10,163 villages
in 125 taluks were facing scarcity conditions, of which 1086
villages were hit severely. Badly affected villages were being
water through tankers.
    Fodder banks had been opened and there was enough stock to
meet the needs for the next 26 weeks, he said.
        Rural and Panchayatraj Development Minister H K Patil,
Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, Law and Animal Husbandry
Minister T B Jayachandra and Revenue Minister V Srinivasa
Prasad and senior officials of the departments concerned were
present at the meeting. 

No compromise on Cauvery: Karnataka's Min

B D Narayankar reports

Bangalore, Apr 22 (PTI) Karnataka government will not
compromise on protecting the state's interest in implementing
the Mekedatu Hydel Project across the Cauvery, a state
minister said today.
        "We will not compromise on protecting the interests of the
state with respect to the Cauvery water issue including
Mekedatu Hydel Project," Energy Minister D K Shivakumar told
reporters here.
        Shivakumar was responding to former Chief Minister and
Opposition Leader in Legislative Council D V Sadananda Gowda's
charge that Congress was trying to sacrifice the interests
of the state to woo voters in Tamil Nadu.
        Gowda had taken exception to the reported statement of
Shivakumar during an election campaign in Tamil Nadu that
Karnataka had dropped plans to implement Mekedatu hydel
project in the wake of the objections by the lower riparian
state.
        The proposal for taking up the project comprising two
generating units with a capacity of 200 MW each has been
pending for nearly 15 years.
        When Law Minister T B Jayachandra announced last year that
the state would take up the project, Tamil Nadu opposed
it and even moved to the Supreme Court.
        "Until they give us the NOC we are unable to take up the
Mekedatu project," Shivakumar said.
        Asked about loadshedding in the state, Shivakumar denied
any such thing happening but retorted, "Those were due to
technical problems."
        Shivakumar also said the government has taken all steps to
ensure people are not hit by power crisis in summer.
        "The government has purchased 650 MW in March last week
and generated 450 MW wind energy," he added.
        The Minister said the government has met the villagers'
demand for ensuring uninterrupted power supply.
        "We will continue to supply seven-hour uninterrupted
three-phase power to villages where he had promised to do so,"
he said.

Karnataka govt blows whistle on whistleblower's financial fraud

B D Narayankar reports

Bangalore, Apr 22 (PTI) Karnataka government has decided
to bring under the scanner of Enforcement Directorate alleged
irregularities of an NGO led by a whistleblower, who has
ruffled the feathers of several politicians on graft.
        "We have referred the case pertaining to alleged
irregularities committed by Samaja Parivartana Samudaya (SPS),
the NGO led by S R Hiremath, to the ED," Karnataka Home
Minister K J George told reporters here.
        Former Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar during debate on budget
proposals in the Assembly had said he had sufficient documents
to prove that SPS was violating provisions under the Foreign
Contribution Regulation Act, 2010.
        He had also alleged that more than one lakh dollars from
abroad had been spent for "projects" taken up by SPS which was
in violation of FCRA provisions.
        Kumar had also charged that foreign money had been
utilised by SPS for fighting court cases pertaining to illegal
mining which was against law.
        Hiremath had recently released a set of documents to back
his allegations of land grabbing against Kumar amidst reports
then that he and two other MLAs would be inducted into the
ministry.
    Hiremath has targetted several prominent politicians,
including state Energy Minister D K Shivakumar on illegal
mining, a charge the latter has denied.