l Karnataka initiating steps to complete controversial project; Plans to submit modified affidavit to Water Disputes Tribunal
TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
BELGAUM: A fresh challenge awaits the Goa government on the controversial Kalsa-Bhandura water diversion project, with Karnataka Rural Development Minister HK Patil stating that the Karnataka government is initiating measures to complete the project and is planning to submit a modified affidavit to the Central Water Disputes Tribunal in Delhi.
“The Central government and the Tribunal should take a serious note of the fact that about 200
TMC (Thousand Million Cubic Feet) of water in Kalsa and Bhandura rivulets flowing to Goa is being wasted,” claimed Patil, while speaking to reporters in Belgaum.
Patil had carried out an onsite inspection of the project at Kankumbi on Tuesday evening and his visit came a day ahead of the Navalgund Taluka Bandh observed by Karnataka Rajya Raita Sangha (KRRS), an apex body of farmers.
Demanding the immediate implementation of the project, KRRS President Kodihalli Chandrashekhar has urged Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to initiate measures to implement the project as early as possible. “Despite politicizing the issue, no political party is taking steps to complete the project,” complained Chandrashekhar.
After inspecting the work, Patil blamed the former BJP government in Karnataka for the delay in implementing the project.
“Our government will initiate measures to complete the pending work on the Kalsa-Bhandura,” said Patil, while assuring farmers in North Karnataka that the procedures to commence work on the Bhandura rivulet too will be taken up soon.
Later speaking to reporters in Belgaum, Patil said he had briefed Siddaramaiah on the issue.
After briefing Siddaramaiah, our government will initiate appropriate steps to complete the project at an early date. This includes submitting a modified affidavit to Central Water Disputes Tribunal at New Delhi. The Central government and the Tribunal should take a serious note of the fact that about 200 TMC of the water in Kalsa and Bhandura rivulets flowing to Goa is being wasted,” said Patil.
Meanwhile, the support to the project is gathering momentum in north Karnataka. Lawyers from the Hubli-Dharwad region have also extended their support to the Kalsa-Bhandura Nala Sangharsh Samiti. Lawyers belonging to the Dharwad Bar Association on Wednesday staged a rally and submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Sameer Shukla in this connection.
While about two-and-half kms of the work is complete, the Ministry of Environment and Forest is yet to give a green signal to the remaining part of the project as is passes through reserve forests.
According to forest officials, thousands of hectares of reserved forestland are expected to be submerged or destroyed in the process of completing project. What has also alarmed environmentalists is that a majority of Bhandura project passes through the Bhimgarh Wildlife Sanctuary, which has been declared a wildlife sanctuary in December 2011.
The Kalsa-Bhandura water diversion project has been in the eye of controversy since its inception.
Incidentally, farmers from Khanapur taluka, where the project is being initiated, had strongly opposed the project on grounds that the project was of no use to the taluka. However, this agitation was kept on hold after assurances by former irrigation minister Basavaraj Bommai that small barrages (a low-head diversion dam consisting of a number of large gates that can be opened or closed to control the amount of water) would be constructed across River Malaprabha once the water is diverted.
