Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj K.S. Eshwarappa has said that the State government would not let Maharashtra take “even an inch” of land from Karnataka.
He was reacting to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s statement on border towns on Monday. He said both Kannadigas and Marathis have been living together as members of one family, but some leaders in Maharashtra had the “habit of raking up the boundary issue” time and again.
“There are many places in Maharashtra where Kannadigas live in large numbers. However, we are not demanding that all those places be merged with Karnataka. Similarly, politicians of Maharashtra should stop raising the issue,” he said.
The Minister reviewed the implementation of the Nirantara Jyoti scheme at the Deputy Commissioner’s office. Taking note of allegations of irregularities in its implementation, he instructed officials to stop payments to contractors until they fulfil all the conditions.
MESCOM officials said that improvement of 68 feeders has been taken up in the district under the scheme, at an expense of ₹226 crore. So far, ₹148 crore has been spent. The remaining works are to be completed by month-end.
