Politicians soft-pedal Hogenakkal

Politicians soft-pedal Hogenakkal
Call For Patience, Restraint
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Except for fringe groups, the political class here is not keen to step up the ante on Tamil Nadu’s Hogenakkal water project. This marks a departure from earlier occasions — political players in both states would never hesitate to play the chauvinism card in the context of sharing the Cauvery waters. It seems no one wants to play the spoiler at this stage, when the state is looking up as an investment and infrastructure destination.
Seeking to cool tempers over Hogenakkal, former chief minister S M Krishna on Thursday said the Centre need not intervene till a popular government is installed in Karnataka.
Krishna told TOI he would also appeal to Kannada activists and others not to indulge in any violence and be patient till a government is formed. Frowning on the attempts by state BJP leaders to gain political capital from the issue, Krishna pointed out that the Hogenakkal drinking water project had been approved by the BJP-led NDA regime in 1998 when J H Patel of Janata Dal was Karnataka CM. “We cannot object to drinking water projects, especially when the neighbouring state is implementing it out of its share of the Cauvery waters,’’ he said, adding Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh had parted with their share of 5 tmcft of Krishna waters to meet the needs of Chennai.
Krishna said both states should sort out any misgivings through mutual discussion. “The no-objection certificate given by the Centre in 1998 to the project is only a first step. Several steps, including obtaining environmental clearance, must be taken. As the Cauvery issue is an inter-state dispute that is yet to be resolved, discussion is the best course of action to resolve the differences.”
It is perhaps a measure of the lack of support for the agitation that a date for the bandh is yet to be finalised. If two dates — April 10 and 14 — have been doing the rounds, it is because the bandh organisers have not been able to bring major political parties on board. JD(S) has remained non-committal on supporting the bandh call. State JD(S) working president C Narayanaswamy said his party will decide on the issue after all pro-Kannada organizations unanimously decide on a date for the proposed bandh.
“Our party has always fought against injustice to the state. We oppose the water scheme if it affects the state’s interests. But we want the protests to be peaceful. We feel agitations should not disturb the harmony between Kannadigas and Tamils,” he said.
Even BJP, which arguably triggered the controversy with Yeddyurappa’s visit to Hogenakkal and his remarks on Tamil Nadu’s drinking water project, has remained cool to the bandh call.