Ramanagara(Karnataka): The Karnataka Congress is all set to resume its truncated Mekedatu Padayatra from Sunday. Mekedatu Padayatra is a 170-kilometre march for drinking water. The second phase of the 'Our Water, Our Rights' campaign will start from Ramanagara at 8 am. The march will reach National College grounds in Basavanagudi, Bengaluru on March 3 where the valedictory program will be held.
Mekedatu Padayatra was scheduled to be held from January 9 to 19. But on January 13 on the fifth day of padayatra, Congress leaders took the decision to postpone the padayatra in Ramanagaram in the light of the High Court’s observations regarding violation of Covid-19 norms and the state government's ban on processions and protests on the view of the third wave of the pandemic.
Karnata State Congress president DK Shivakumar, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, Opposition leader in Legislative Council B.K Hariprasad and other Congress leaders and activists will participate in the five-day padayatra.
The Mekedatu project was first announced in 2013 and it is estimated to cost Rs 9,000 crore. The balancing reservoir-cum-drinking water project to regulate the flow of water to Tamil Nadu will be used to generate 400 MW power and utilize 4.75 thousand million cubic feet of water for Bengaluru.
