KRRS asks Shivakumar to quit as he failed to call meeting on TLBC, NRBC problems

Demand for Deputy CM Shivakumar's resignation due to Tungabhadra Reservoir gate incident, calls for judicial probe on maintenance expenditure.

Holding Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is also Water Resources Minister, responsible for the incident in which the chain link of a crest gate of the Tungabhadra Reservoir at Hospete in Vijayanagar district was washed away, honorary president of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha Chamaras Malipatil has demanded his resignation on moral grounds.

Mr. Malipatil was addressing a press conference in Raichur on Tuesday.

Crest gate No 19 of the reservoir got washed away after its chain link broke late on Saturday night and the authorities have been forced to release a heavy amount of water to fix the damaged gate.

Mr. Malipatil said that the Raitha Sangha wrote a letter to Mr. Shivakumar last year asking him to convene a high-level meeting of elected representatives, Deputy Commissioners, officers and farmer leaders, to discuss problems involving Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal (TLBC) and Narayanpur Right Bank Canal (NRBC).

However, there has been no response from him so far. If he had conducted the meeting, these problems could have been discussed. Therefore, on moral grounds, he should resign from the post, Mr. Malipatil added.

He further said that Mr. Shivakumar didn’t even give farmer leaders time to discuss the issues when he came to visit the reservoir after the incident, as he went back in a hurry.

Suspecting irregularities in the expenditure made for maintenance of the gates, Mr. Malipatil sought a judicial probe to bring out the truth concerning expenditure.