Karnataka government gives nod for Maski irrigation project, Maratha Development Authority

Bengaluru: The Karnataka government has given its approval to the Maski Nala irrigation project in Raichur district and to establish Maratha Development Authority (MDA).

Orders to this effect were passed on Friday. The government said it accorded administrative sanction to the Detailed Project Report (DPR) with an estimated cost of Rs 52.54 crore as allotted in the year 2018 -19 for the remodelling of the left bank and right bank canals and their distributaries. According to sources in the irrigation department, this project was a long pending demand of people in the region, which finally got the government nod. The government also announced setting up the MDA with a grant of Rs 50 crore.

In his order, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said, "In view of the substantial Maratha population in the state, a Maratha Development Authority will be established for their social, economic, academic and religious development and for this purpose an order has been issued earmarking Rs 50 crore with the consent of the Finance department."

Sources in the administrative circle said both the decisions were made in view of the upcoming by-polls to Maski and Basavakalyan assembly segments.

Maski assembly constituency fell vacant after the sitting Congress MLA Pratap Gouda Patil resigned from the assembly in 2019 along with 15 other MLAs triggering a political crisis in the state with the fall of the coalition government of Congress and the JD(S), led by H D Kumaraswamy.

The bypoll for the Basavakalyan assembly constituency was warranted by the demise of the sitting Congress MLA B Narayan Rao due to coronavirus in a hospital in Bengaluru on September 24.

Basavakalyan in Bidar district of North Karnataka is located just at the border of Maharashtra. It has a substantial Maratha population. The decision to establish MDA has drawn flak from pro-Kannada activist Vatal Nagaraj, who opined that such precedence will lead to setting up of Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam development authorities in the coming year. He said the Chief Minister should drop the proposal. PTI