CM Bommai to convene all-party meet in Feb first week to discuss inter-state water disputes
Bengaluru, Jan 22: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said he would convene an all-party meeting in the first week of February to discuss inter-state water disputes.
The Chief Minister also said the government would fight the issue of interlinking of rivers politically and legally.
To a query on the Karnataka government's stand on the Hogenakkal Phase-2 project, allegedly proposed by the Tamil Nadu government, Bommai said, "Whether it be Hogenakkal or the interlinking of rivers, as a government we had faced such questions in the past. We have opposed the interlinking of rivers in the Supreme Court. We will fight it politically and legally."
Bommai's statement came a day after Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol said the Karnataka government will oppose the proposed water project at Hogenakkal at the border of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu stating that the neighbouring state cannot take it up unilaterally.
Alleging that the details of the project have not been furnished before the tribunal and the Supreme court, the minister had said Tamil Nadu cannot take up this project unilaterally.
Tamil Nadu has voiced its opposition to the Rs 9,000 crore Mekedatu balancing reservoir project of the Karnataka government in Ramanagara district, which is aimed at meeting the drinking water needs of Bengaluru and neighbouring districts. Tamil Nadu contends that project would affect the interests of farmers in the lower riparian areas in its state. Instead, it had advocated a dam at Hogenakkal at the border of Chamrajanagar in Karnataka and Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu.
"I will convene an all-party meeting in the first week of February which the Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy, Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol and the floor leaders of various parties in the Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council will participate," Bommai told reporters after a virtual meeting with legal experts fighting the water dispute related cases in various courts.
The Chief Minister said he would brief everyone participating in the meeting about the legal battle fought so far, the status of the court cases, the legal position to be taken in the interest of the state and materialise various water projects.
"In the past too we have risen above political differences when it came to issues pertaining to the state's land and water. Since the cases are at the crucial stages, I have convened the meeting in the first week of February where we will discuss with the leaders of the opposition parties and legal experts on how to proceed further with these disputes and what should be our stand," Bommai said.
Bommai said he along with Govind Karjol had a detailed discussion with the legal experts, who represented the state in various courts, through video conference.
The discussions pertained to the projects related to the watershed regions of Krishna, Cauvery and Mahadayi river and the status of cases pending in various courts.
He added that he would again hold another video conference on water disputes by the end of January because the legal experts have said they have to make some more preparations.
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WHO declares global health emergency over Ebola outbreak in Congo, Uganda
Abuja (Nigeria) (AP): WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the Ebola disease outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday after more than 300 suspected cases and 88 deaths.
In a post on X, the World Health Organisation said the outbreak does not meet the criteria of a pandemic emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, and advised against the closure of international borders.
Ebola is highly contagious and can be contracted via bodily fluids such as vomit, blood or semen. The disease it causes is rare, but severe and often fatal.
Health authorities have confirmed the current outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo virus, a rare variant of the Ebola disease that has no approved therapeutics or vaccines. Although more than 20 Ebola outbreaks have taken place in Congo and Uganda, this is only the third time the Bundibugyo virus has been reported.
Congo accounts for all except two of the cases, both of which were reported in neighbouring Uganda, the WHO said.
Officials first reported the spread of the disease in Congo's eastern province of Ituri, close to Uganda and South Sudan, on Friday. On Saturday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 336 suspected cases and 87 deaths.
“There are significant uncertainties regarding the true number of infected persons and geographic spread associated with this event at the present time. In addition, there is limited understanding of the epidemiological links with known or suspected cases,” Tedros said.
Uganda on Saturday confirmed one case it said was imported from Congo, and said the patient died at a hospital in Uganda's capital, Kampala, and the WHO said that a second case has been reported in Kampala. The two cases had no apparent links to each other, and both patients had travelled from Congo, it added.
The Bundibugyo virus was first detected in Uganda's Bundibugyo district during a 2007-2008 outbreak that infected 149 people and killed 37 people. The second time was in 2012 in an outbreak in Isiro, Congo, where 57 cases and 29 deaths were reported.
WHO's emergency declaration is meant to spur donor agencies and countries into action. However, the global response to previous declarations has been mixed.
In 2024, when the WHO declared mpox outbreaks in Congo and elsewhere in Africa a global emergency, experts at the time said it did little to get supplies like diagnostic tests, medicines and vaccines to affected countries quickly.
