Siddaramaiah blames BJP for reaping political benefit out of border row
Bengaluru, Dec 8: With the border row between Karnataka and Maharashtra over Belagavi still persisting, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday accused the BJP of reaping political benefits instead of resolving the issue.
In a series of tweets, the Leader of Opposition said people were facing hardship owing to the controversy.
"It is in the DNA of @BJP4Karnataka to reap political benefits out of controversies. Belagavi border issue, which could have been resolved through negotiations, is now allowed to grow so that BJP can take benefits," the Congress leader said.
Siddaramaiah said the people were facing problems as the transport departments of both the States have stopped the Belagavi-Maharashtra inter-State bus service.
"People of both the States are anxious about the developments, & @BJP4Karnataka govt have to intervene & establish peace," the former Chief Minister said.
He further said the coalition government in Maharashtra has been trying to target Kannadigas residing in the neighbouring States and Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai should immediately intervene, reach out to his counterparts in Maharashtra and protect Kannadigas.
"It is not just enough to claim it is a double-engine govt. @BJP4India should step up whenever it is needed to solve the crisis. This time it has failed to resolve the issue...," the Congress leader said.
The border row was several decades old with Maharashtra claiming the merger of Belagavi with it on the ground that the district has substantial Marathi-speaking population.
Karnataka has refuted the claim by saying the issue has been settled long ago.
The border row once again flared up with the decision of two Maharashtra Ministers Chandrakant Patil and Shambhuraj Desai, who have been appointed by the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to coordinate with their legal team to deal with the issue, to visit Belagavi on December 6.
Since then, Belagavi city and parts of the city bordering Maharashtra have seen protests on both sides.
Today too, there were protests in Gadag where the pro-Kannada organisation members staged demonstrations and reportedly burned an effigy of Shinde.
It is in the DNA of @BJP4Karnataka to reap political benefits out of controversies.
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) December 8, 2022
Belagavi border issue, which could have been resolved through negotiations, is now allowed to grow so that BJP can take benefits.
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K'taka water crisis: NGT seeks cricket association's reply on water sources in Chinnaswamy stadium
New Delhi, May 3: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) to furnish details about the various sources of water, including four 400-feet deep bore wells, in Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy stadium.
The tribunal, which was hearing the matter regarding the supply of treated water to the stadium for the Indian Premier League (IPL) matches amid the water crisis in the state, noted that the stadium's total usage or water consumption was 1,94,000 litre a day, of which 80,000 litre was fresh water.
The tribunal had earlier taken suo motu cognisance of a media report claiming that the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) upon request of the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has permitted the supply of treated water to the stadium.
Last month, it had directed the BWSSB to file a detailed report with complete details of the quantity and source of water being used in the stadium.
In an order passed on Thursday, a bench of NGT Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava noting the board's report pointed out that the stadium's different sources of water included four bore wells, each of 400 feet depth, and these bore wells were not equipped with meters for calculating water usage.
The bench, also comprising judicial member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and expert member A Senthil Vel, noted that the report also said approval was granted for the daily supply of 64,000 litre of treated water for non-drinking purposes.
The stadium's total water consumption was 1,94,000 litre a day, of which 80,000 litre was fresh water, 50,000 litre was purchased or rain water harvested (RWH) water and 64,000 was treated water, the bench said citing the report.
The bench noted the reply of the KSCA about seeking some time for disclosing the "full details of various sources" from which it obtained water.
The tribunal directed the KSCA to also "disclose the details of permissions which have been granted in respect of the four bore wells", since when groundwater is being extracted from these bore wells and when they were dug, including the quantity of water extracted.
It also asked the association to share the particulars of the sewage treatment plant (STP) which had been set up in the stadium and the details of its operation or performance.
"Let the reply on above terms be filed by respondent no. 4 (KSCA) within four weeks," the tribunal said.
The matter has been posted for hearing on August 13 for further proceedings.
