Krishnagiri: The Krishnagiri DMK cadre staged a protest against the ruling AIADMK, which according to them has allowed Karnataka to build a dam across Markandeya Nadhi, a tributary of the South Pennar river.
The protest was held on Thursday at Anna statute, near the new bus stand in Krishnagiri. The party's Krishnagiri MLA T. Senguttuvan, Thally MLA Y. Prakash, Hosur MLA S.A. Sathya, former chairman of Hosur municipality N.S. Madeshwaran and others participated.
“Supreme court's judgment in favour of Karnataka for the South Pennar river issue has proved that the ruling AIADMK government is useless,” N.S. Madeshwaran told reporters.
He added: “The livelihood of the South Pennar river farmers in five districts would have been saved if the concerned ministers have met the lawyer arguing for us in the apex court and also supported them by giving relevant documents need to be submitted in the court to win the case for us.”
The Supreme Court, a few days ago dismissed Tamil Nadu’s plea to grant stay for the Karnataka's move to build a dam at Yaragol, across the river Markandeya Nadhi, a tributary of the South Pennar river.
South Pennar River originates from Nandi Hills in Karnataka state and enters Tamil Nadu via Hosur. It flows through Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Thiruvanamalai, Villupuram and Cuddalore districts before joining the Bay of Bengal.
Both, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu locked horns after the upper riparian state planned to construct a dam at Yaragol across Markandeya Nadhi at an estimated cost of Rs 240 crore.
A sum of Rs 160 crore will be spent by Karnataka and the remaining Rs 79.92 crore will come from the Central government for the project, which according to Karnataka was implemented to meet the water requirements of people in Malur and Kolar taluks of that state.
The project was in trouble due to the objections by Tamil Nadu. The lower riparian state blamed Karnataka for violating the agreement and going ahead with its plan without the consent of Tamil Nadu.
