Bengaluru: Congress leader and Former Water Resources Minister M. B. Patil on Wednesday January 12 has defended the party’s Mekedatu Padayatra, saying the new Omicron variant is not deadly and is a mild flu.
“It is not the same as the first or second waves. As a responsible party, we are taking all necessary precautions, such as wearing masks and using hand sanitisers,” he said. Patil also claims that the padayatra is a fundamental right and the gathering was planned long before the cases began to rise.
He disproved claims that Congress did not take any steps to implement the project while in power, saying that a feasibility report and a Detailed Project Report (DPR) were prepared and submitted while Congress was in power. When D. K. Shivakumar was the Water Resources Minister, a revised DPR was submitted.
Patil said that consultants had been hired to prepare a feasibility report and a DPR for Mekedatu and three other sites.
The DPR worth Rs. 5812 crore had also received administrative approval from the government. On June 7, 2017, the DPR had been forwarded to the Central Water Commission (CWC) in Bengaluru, which requested that a pre-feasibility report be submitted in accordance with the new guidelines. The report was submitted to the CWC in New Delhi on October 9, 2017.
A revised DPR of Rs. 9,000 crore was submitted on January 1, 2019, after the Central Water Commission gave its approval on November 22, 2018, he said.
Minister of Water Resources Govind Karjol said, “Instead of beating around the bush, Patil must respond directly to the BJP’s questions. Why did a DPR take four years to complete?”