Bangalore (PTI): Union Health Minister Dr Anbumani Ramadoss on Tuesday appealed to the people of Karnataka to support the Hogenakkal Drinking Water project, being executed by Tamil Nadu.

“I appeal to the people of Karnataka not to politicise the Hogenakkal issue. It is a health issue and not a political one,” Ramadoss said while speaking at a function at NIMHANS hospital here.

Ramadoss said that the Hogenakkal project had been pending for the past 50 years affecting the people’s lives.

There have been cases of mental retardation, physical deformity and other health-related problems in some parts of Tamil Nadu due to high flouride [sic: fluoride] content in the water, he said.

“Give drinking water to people. They need it for their survival,” the minister said

Karnataka Minister for Medical Education Ramachandra Gowda, one of the guests present at the function, said that we should have been consulted by Tamil Nadu government before taking up the project.

Karnataka has already appealed to the Centre to convene a meeting of Chief Ministers of both states to find a solution to the controversy.

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