The decline of Dalavayikere tells a familiar tale

Victim of greed

The Dalavayikere in the Savanadurga valley of Nayakanapalya in the taluk is slowly being gobbled up by the powerful and the mighty with officials readily playing ball. The forests of Savanadurga too are falling prey to encroachers, thus endangering the ecology of the region.

Brick kilns and agriculture farms are coming up on the tank bed which once boasted of copious water flow and fed water to open wells in Veerenagowdanadoddi, Gavinagamangala, Tyagaderepalya, Kallerepalya and surrounding villages. Rainwater flowing down from the Savandurga Hills fed the Dalavayikere tank.

This rapacious assault is not just the story of Dalavayikere, but also of 286 other tanks also in the taluk. Gangannanayaka of Nayakanapalya says that the government should initiate immediate steps to not only evict the encroachers, but also revive the tanks which were once the lifeline of the region.

Besides being a drinking water source, the 105-acre Dalavayikere in its prime, irrigated an area of 162 acres of paddy fields. The tank was built during the rule of Nanjarajaiah and Devarajaraiah, who were ministers of Mummadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar of Mysore.

The water in Dalavayikere was also believed to be an elixir, rich in properties to cure and prevent many diseases as the water washed the medicinal herbs on the Savandurga Hills as it flowed down, said Narasimhamurthy of Nayakanapalya.  

The bridge across Dalavayikere, which connects to the Ramanagar Road, has also been neglected by the authorities. Locals fear that the bridge may collapse under the weight of the number of vehicles going towards and coming from Ramanagar.

The village residents said that though the irrigation department spends money every year for the tank repair works, the tank is full of silt. Desilting work is undertaken only during the rainy season, they said.

They fervently hope that the tanks in the taluk are given a new lease of life, so that they sustain lives in the region for ages to come.