The Hindu Business Line : Farmers up in arms against move to divert Netravati

`The entire project, apart from being destructive and against the interests of both the rural and urban population of the area, is also impractical and unscientific.'

MANGALORE, June 10

FARMERS and environmentalist groups in the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka are now up in arms against a State Government proposal to divert the course of the Netravati River.

The diversion of the river, according to them, will not only affect the lives of lakhs of farmers and fishermen in the region but have a disastrous effect on the already precarious ecological balance of the Western Ghats.

Often described as the lifeline of the area, the westward-flowing Netravati with its innumerable tributaries is intertwined with the economy of this region and is a source of sustenance to over 10 lakh farmers with estimated land holdings of about 3.5 lakh hectares.

The two-pronged `mega-proposal' for diversion of the Netravati, estimated to cost around Rs 12,500 crore, was first submitted to the State Government's Irrigation Department by a nine-member committee headed by Mr G.S. Paramasivayya in March 2001.

The proposal is now being taken up in earnest with funds having been ostensibly already been released to conduct a satellite survey of the region.

The first aspect of the scheme is said to involve a proposal to turn the river eastwards to supply water to 8,684 villages in 40 drought-affected taluks across seven districts.

The districts which are supposed to benefit from the scheme are Chikmaglur, Hassan, Mandya, Tumkur, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Urban and Kolar.

The second aspect of the proposal, which involves turning the river northwards as well as eastwards, is expected to take water to 2,808 villages in 22 drought-affected taluks in six districts, including Chitradurga, Bellary and Davanagere.

The scheme also involves the building of two major canals, 38 reservoirs and 8,697 tanks. The rationale for the project is that it would offer a "permanent solution" as far as water supply to the drought-hit districts of the State is concerned.

Farmers and environmentalists, however, see this entire project as a recipe for economic and ecological disaster.

According to Mr Lakshmisha Tolpady of the Bharatiya Kisan Sangha, for instance, the entire project, apart from being destructive and against the interests of both the rural and urban populations of the area, is also impractical and unscientific.

Quoting Prof Udayashankar of the Manipal Institute of Technology, Mr Tolpady, in a paper focusing on the hazards of the project, says that since there are already several "weak regions" in the Western Ghats ranges, the building of canals and reservoirs would put immense pressure on the precarious balance that is maintaining their stability.

Moreover, Mr Tolpady and others are amazed by the claim that the submergence of thousands of hectares of forest cover in the Ghat region would have no consequences.

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