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Summer effect: Gonikoppa reels under water crisis

Last Updated 26 February 2017, 17:49 IST

The scorching summer has already aggravated the water crisis in Gonikoppa with the water bodies getting dried.

The water bodies inside Nagarahole Rajiv Gandhi National Park near Gonikoppa have gone dry. Wild animals and birds are in search of water bodies to quench their thirst. The condition will worsen during April and May if the water bodies do not receive rain water so as to recharge the groundwater.

There are 158 lakes inside Nagarahole, of which 60% of them do not have water. Owing to the deficit rainfall, the lakes have not been filled during monsoon. Hunsooru Wildlife division supervisor Keshavarj said that borewells are being sunk to replenish lakes in the forest.

Elephant, tigers, bison, wild boar and other animals are struggling to ease their thirst as the water bodies are drying up inside the forest. Acute shortage of water has forced several animals to migrate to the backwaters or to the sources of water bodies inside and outside the forest.

A small quantity of water is available in a lake situated amid Majjigehalla Elephant Camp near Thithimathi. However, the water is not potable for any wild animal. Borewells inside the coffee plantations have also dried up. The planters are filling water in drums and transporting it to their houses for day today requirements.

A few of the wild trees inside the forest are still green. However, plants like Lantana and other shrubs have dried. Lakshmanatheertha river has dried up. The water level in borewells in Balele, Thithimathi, Ponnampete, Nallur, Gonikoppa have declined drastically. A lake near Anechowkur Gate that never goes dry in Kodagu district, has dried up one month ago this year.

The tribal colonies in Hakkemala, Gaddehadi, Reshmehadlu, Bombuhadi, Bommadi, Chenihadlu have been facing acute drinking water shortage. The crisis will aggravate during the peak summer and is likely to be solved only in the month of June, feels J K Subba of Reshmehadlu colony.

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(Published 26 February 2017, 17:49 IST)

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