Environmentalists from Mangaluru have said that nine tributaries of the Nethravathi river, the lifeline of Dakshina Kannada district, in the Western Ghat section are being systematically destroyed in the name of various projects. This will have serious impact on the Dakshina Kannada district in the years to come, they warned.

Addressing presspersons in Mangaluru on Wednesday, Dinesh Holla, coordinator of Sahyadri Sanchaya, a forum of environmentalists, said the Nethravathi has nine tributaries on a 123-km stretch from the Kudremukh range to the Pushpagiri range along the Western Ghats.

Water diversion

Many of them are being damaged in the name of various projects and tourism. Giving the example of the Yettinaholey project of the Karnataka government, he said this project will have serious implications on the Nethravathi’s flow in Dakshina Kannada.

(The Karnataka government has taken up the Yettinaholey project to divert water from the Yettinaholey in Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan district to southeastern districts of the State. The Yettinaholey is one of the tributaries of the Nethravathi.)

Though the government had estimated to divert around 24 tmcft of water from the Yettinaholey stream to the southeastern districts in the State, now the government is sure that it can’t divert that much of water, he said. Considering this, the government is planning to draw water from the neighbouring streams of the Yettinaholey. Such a move will have a serious impact on the Nethravathi, he said.

Referring to the construction of resorts and home-stays across the Western Ghat section in Karnataka, he said some resort and home-stay operators have diverted the freshwater streams that includes the tributaries of the Nethravathi to their project sites. This will further reduce the flow of water into the Nethravathi.

Instead of allowing any projects on Western Ghats, he said, the government should declare the 123-km stretch as the Nethravathi river area as it gets water from these hill ranges.

Shashidhar Shetty, an office-bearer of the Mangaluru-based National Environment Care Federation, said that projects initiated by the government and others in the Western Ghats have made serious impact on coastal Karnataka.

Drought feared

The coastal Karnataka is facing drought-like situation since the launch of the Yettinaholey project. He wondered what could be the future scenario related to water availability in the region in the coming years, if this is the case before the completion of the project.

Urging the political parties to end their game plans on such projects, he said they should work on stopping the projects that affect the eco-sensitive Western Ghat region of Karnataka.

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