Congress alone can't be blamed for river diversion project: B Ramanath Rai

MANGALURU: The Congress government in Karnataka alone could not be blamed for the decision to implement Yettinahole river diversion project as it was approved during the previous BJP regime, State Forests and Environment Minister B Ramanath Rai said here today.

Addressing reporters, Rai, who is also the district-in-charge minister, said BJP's Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel was only trying to gain publicity and political mileage with his opposition to the project.

Kateel's stance is just a political drama for personal and political gains, he alleged while adding that all the BJP members in the assembly supported the project.

"If Kateel is against it, let him come out of the party and convince BJP MLAs with the reasons for his opposition to the project and urge them to press an adjournment motion in the House," he said.

Rai pointed out that infact BJP's Late VS Acharya had mooted the project when he was the minister in the B S Yeddyurappa government in 2009.

He had also said that 10 per cent water from Nethravati river could be diverted to drought-hit districts through the Yettinahole project.

The project was announced by Yeddyurappa in the budget, Rai observed while stating that the diversion of Nethravati waters would not affect the water supply to coastal districts.

All the previous governments had cleared the project and now it is in the hands of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he added.