Karnataka Congress temporarily halts Mekedatu padayatra over Covid-19 concerns

Karnataka Congress has decided to temporarily halt its Mekedatu padayatra due to Covid19 concerns and in the interest of public health Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Siddaramaiah said on ThursdayAsserting that the Congress party was not halting its padayatra fearing cases being booked against its leaders or because of the BJP governments orders prohibiting it he said they will continue their march once the Covid19 third wave declines and the curbs are relaxedWe are concerned about the health of the people in Karnataka it is our responsibility to see to it that the Covid19 doesnt spread because of our padayatra despite taking all the necessary measures we had concerns so we discussed today We dont want people to feel that we are responsible for worsening Covid19 situation Siddaramaiah saidSpeaking to reporters here after meeting with party leaders and legislators he noted that the padayatra was to reach Bengaluru by tomorrow evening where Covid19 cases are highso we have decided to temporarily halt this padayatra here Once the third wave declines and Covid19 rules are relaxed we will continue the remaining distance of the padayatra from Ramanagara he said as he appealed to party workers not to lose spirit and requested their cooperationThe Congresss decision to halt the padayatra is following the High Courts strong observations and governments last night orders prohibiting interdistrict and intradistrict within Ramanagara movement of vehicles and persons for participating in itAlso several party leaders including Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge who had attended the inaugural of the padayatra on January 9 have tested positive for Covid19The Karnataka High Court on Wednesday had questioned the state government as to why it allowed the Congress padayatra which is being held in violation of its Covid19 curbs and why no appropriate action was taken by the authorities to restrain the marchIt has also asked the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee KPCC whether it had obtained permission for the padayatra and whether measures have been taken in compliance with Standard Operating Procedures SOPs prescribed by the government to prevent the Covid19 spreadThe court has asked both the state government as well as the Congress to respond by FridayEarlier on Thursday Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had appealed to Siddaramaiah and KPCC President D K Shivakumar to call off their padyatraThe Congresss 10day long march demanding implementation of Mekedatu project to which neighbouring Tamil Nadu is opposed on its fifth day today was scheduled to cover a distance of about 15 km from Ramanagara to Bidadi defying Covid19 curbsThe padayatra that began on January 9 was to span a total distance of nearly 139 km and was scheduled to conclude at Basavanagudi in Bengaluru on January 19Police have already filed four FIRs against Congress leaders including Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah for taking out the march defying Covid19 curbsThe Mekedatu multipurpose drinking and power project involves building a balancing reservoir near Kanakapura in Ramanagara district of KarnatakaThe project once completed is aimed at ensuring drinking water to Bengaluru and neighbouring areas 475 TMC and also can generate 400 MW power and the estimated cost of the project is Rs 9000 croreThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever