Caught between hope and protest

Netravati is one of Karnataka’s west-flowing rivers. Born in the Western Ghats, it journeys through Dakshina Kannada before emptying into the Arabian Sea near Mangalore.

Yettinahole, one of the tributaries of the Netravati, has been in and out of the news for a while because the Karnataka Government believes it could be a source of drinking water for the parched eastern districts of Tumkur, Chitradurga, Bangalore rural, Kolar and Chikballapur. For the last four years, the river and a project were mentioned in budgets and crores of rupees allocated towards funding it.

Details of the project are sketchy. The Government describes it as the diversion of west-flowing streams from the upper reaches of the Western Ghats near Sakaleshpur in Hassan district. About 24 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of water will be diverted through the construction of barrages at Yettinahole and at villages near Sakaleshpur.

But the people of Dakshina Kannada district, for whom the Netravati is a lifeline, fear the project is a conspiracy to divert their mighty river. Most political parties opposed the project during the recent parliamentary elections.

Yatish Baikampady, a representative of the fishing community, told BusinessLine that there is lack of clarity on the project.

“The people in Bangalore decide our fate,” without taking anybody from the region into confidence, he says.

Any move to divert river water from its mouth, and a consequent reduction in the flow of water when it empties into the sea, leaves fishermen unable to venture out for fishing.

Shree Padre, an advocate of rainwater harvesting in parched districts and an expert in the same systems, said any solution that involves bringing water from far away places is not advisable. Soil erosion and deforestation are the two of the biggest problems associated with any major river project. River linking or diversion would only aggravate these issues.

NA Madhyastha, an expert on biodiversity and former Principal of the Udupi-based Poornaprajna College, said developments related to the river project could prove dangerous to the region’s rich biodiversity.

However, the State’s leaders seem intent on going ahead with its plans, ignoring the differing views. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah laid the foundation stone for the project at Chikballapur on March 3, promising that the ₹12,912-crore plan would supply drinking water to Kolar and Chikballapur districts.

Water Resources Minister, MB Patil recently announced that civil works on the Yettinahole project would commence soon. But another promise to convene a meeting of the elected representatives from Dakshina Kannada to address their concerns is yet to be kept. It’s difficult for naysayers to get much traction when leading politicians openly support the project. Congress MP and former Union Petroleum Minister Veerappa Moily, who hails from coastal Karnataka and was elected from water-scarce Chikballapur, has repeatedly spoken in favour of the Yettinahole project. Union Railway Minister and BJP MP from Bangalore (North), DV Sadananda Gowda, another native of coastal Karnataka, is also a cheerleader.

However, not all river-linking projects can steamroll over public concerns as easily. The Kalasa-Bandura nala project, meant to improve drinking water supply in north Karnataka districts, has met with some major resistance from Goa, which feels that the project will threaten its perennial water source. An interim ban by a water dispute tribunal on construction of check dams has placed the project in limbo.

With inputs from Anil Urs