Aghnashini - the “untouched” river of the Western Ghats -- is once again being eyed by the powers that be. There is a proposal to link the river with Varada river, according to information disclosed by Vruksha Laksha Andolan, an organisation for environment conservation.
The river-linking project aims to irrigate land and generate hydroelectricity.
As per the project plan, a 49 metre dam will be built at Hemagini taluk and water will be diverted to Nellur stream through a canal. From there water will be diverted to Varada river, which in turn will be linked to Tungabhadra river.
The 1,452 cubic meters of water collected by the construction of a dam at Hemgini will be diverted to Tungabhadra river to irrigate agricultural lands on the banks of the Tungabhadra.
There are plans to set up four power generation units with 55 megawatt capacity each. The units are expected to produce 136.53 megawatts of power every month.
Greens’ doubts
Environmentalists are not sure about the location of the dam to be built at Hemagini. They suspect that the dam might be close to the mango grooves of the taluk.
The project has been designed with tact by combining irrigation and power generation so that people seeking irrigation will support the project.
Though the project is in its infancy, greens smell a conspiracy to “exploit” the Aghnashini river. 
Nearly 6,200 hectares of land would be submerged due to Rs 895.78 crore worth project on construction of the dam, said co-ordinator Anant Hegde Ashisar to reporters at Siddapur.
It would be inevitable to stage a strong protest against the proposed project he added.