New Delhi: Resenting that river disputes have been taken to courts, Prime Minister
Atal Behari Vajpayee on October 25 suggested that these could have been resolved
amicably through talks.
"Can't we sit together, discuss the issue and resolve it," Vajpayee said at an NDA
(National democratic Alliance) rally in New Delhi, a day after Supreme Court
admonished Karnataka for not obeying its order to release water to Tamil
Nadu.
Such water disputes would not have arisen if the task of linking all the rivers were
taken up immediately after country's independence, Vajpayee said.
Asserting that government wanted to make available food grains to every individual,
he said, "No one should sleep hungry. Starvation death is out of question."
On the drought situation in some parts of the country, he said it was also the
responsibility of state governments to see that relief was given to all.
"There is no shortage of food grains in the country," he said, adding now the country
was exporting food grains.
It was the policy of the NDA government to provide incentives to farmers, he said and
asked them to grow other crops besides wheat and rice.
PTI
