By IANS
Chennai : Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi Tuesday condemned Monday’s violent protests in Karnataka against a water supply project and called for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention into the month-long dispute between the two states.
“Karnataka has already impeded our share of Cauvery waters reaching the delta region in (eastern) Tamil Nadu. Now the situation has worsened. They are now attempting to stop the Hogenekkal Joint Drinking Water Scheme sans humanitarian considerations,” an angry Karunanidhi said in the state assembly.
“Further, several Tamil establishments including cinemas have been attacked in Bangalore. I have decided not to visit the neighbouring state till our people’s honour and safety are assured,” he said.
“We will request Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention to restore parity in this matter,” the chief minister added.
Pro-Kannada activists in Bangalore Monday attacked cinema halls screening Tamil films, and protested Tamil Nadu’s decision to go ahead with the water supply project at Hogenekkal waterfalls on the border of the two states.
Karnataka says the picturesque Hogenekkal, where the state’s major river Cauvery enters Tamil Nadu, belongs to it and that the neighbouring state’s water supply project will severely affect its interests.
Tamil Nadu Speaker R. Auvudaiyappan allowed an adjournment motion to be moved to express the state’s protest in the assembly. Following this, leaders, cutting across party lines, unanimously condemned the incidents in Karnataka.
A resolution to this effect was subsequently passed by voice vote.
Members of the Tamil film industry also met and actor-turned-politician Sarth Kumar, president of the South Indian Film Artistes’ Association, announced that a mass hunger strike would be held Friday.
The South Indian Film Chamber, meanwhile, passed a resolution prohibiting members from cooperating with Kannada movie producers with immediate effect.
Police deployment has been augmented in the districts bordering Karnataka to prevent any untoward incidents, a government communiqué said.
The foundation stone for the Rs.13.3 billion project in Hogenakkal, funded by Japan Bank of International Cooperation (JBIC), was laid by Karunanidhi Feb 26.
The Hogenakkal Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project is expected to cover 6,755 households in three municipal areas, 17 panchayats and 18 small towns, benefiting about three million people.
Safe drinking water would be provided from the waterfall to the fluoride-affected towns and villages in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts bordering Karnataka.