CM Siddaramaiah directs officials to survey 10,754 lakes before monsoon
Bengaluru: In a bid to ensure better management and conservation of lakes across the state, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has directed officials to complete the survey of 10,754 lakes before the onset of the monsoon season.
These lakes represent about 26 percent of the estimated 40,998 lakes in the state.
During a review meeting with the Karnataka Tank Conservation and Development Authority, Siddaramaiah instructed officials to clear encroachments of lakes before the rains begin. He noted that the revenue department has already completed the survey of approximately 30,000 lakes, leaving the remaining ones to be surveyed in the coming months.
The chief minister also directed officials to rejuvenate the lakes through the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
Additionally, Siddaramaiah instructed the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to regularly monitor the condition of lakes across the state, particularly in urban areas.
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Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
