Hassan: G.S. Basavaraju, Bharatiya Janata Party MP, who defeated Janata Dal (Secular) supremo H.D. Deve Gowda in Tumakuru in the recent Lok Sabha poll, claimed on Saturday that the octogenarian had lost to him because of the “curse of the Gange (water).”
“Mr Deve Gowda has been cursed for denying Tumakuru its share of water from the Hemavathy river,” he contended, speaking to reporters while on a visit to inspect canals leading to the district via Karehalli and Mudlapura villages in Channarayapatna taluk of Hassan.
Recalling that Tumakuru was allotted 24 tmc feet of water from the Hemavathy reservoir, but had received only 6 tmcft of water last year, he said this was hardly adequate for its standing crops and drinking water requirements.
The MP claimed that Hassan district was drawing about 44 tmcft of water from the Hemavathi river every year, denying Tumakuru its share under pressure from Mr Deve Gowda’s son and Public Works minister H D Revanna, whom he called “greedy.”
“Repair the existing canals to supply more water to Tumakuru,” he ordered the officials concerned.
