JOIN US‘Any water project detrimental to Western Ghats will not be allowed’
The State government will not implement any drinking water project, including the controversial Netravati diversion project that is detrimental to the Western Ghats, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said in the Legislative Council on Wednesday.
He said he had convened a high-level meeting on Thursday to find a permanent solution to slake the thirst of people in four districts of central Karnataka.
“It is impossible to implement the Netravati diversion project. The government will not allow any project detrimental to the Western Ghats. I had opposed the Netravati project in the past, and I am opposing it now,” Gowda said.
The government is, however, committed to providing drinking water to people in the four districts of Bangalore Rural, Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Tumkur. All elected representatives from these districts, including Union ministers and irrigation experts, have been invited to Thursday’s meeting, where a concrete plan will be chalked out, Gowda said.
Netravati project, proposed by the G S Paramashivaiah Committee in 2004, has run into rough weather with elected representatives from the coastal and the Malnad regions vehemently opposing it, and those from the four districts demanding its immediate implementation.
The Paramashivaiah Committee report had recommended several ways to provide water to central Karnataka by tapping the west-flowing rivers.
Gowda, who hails from the Malnad region, has been in the eye of a storm over his recent conflicting statements on the issue.
However, he said the issue should not be politicised. “A collective decision has to be taken to solve the drinking water problem. There should not be any more delay. My government is committed in this regard,” he said.
The chief minister said the government had been exploring all possibilities of implementing the Ettinahole project. Efforts are being made to spend Rs 200 crore earmarked for the purpose in 2011-12 budget.
For Chitradurga district, water will be supplied under the Upper Bhadra project Part-A. Besides, about 119 minor irrigation tanks in Tumkur and Kolar districts will be filled under the Upper Bhadra project Part-B, he said.
Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai said implementing projects proposed in the Paramashivaiah report was technically, economical and politically a challenge.
The west-flowing rivers have a very limited run-off. Hence, most of them go dry during summer and locals face drinking water problem. But there is a need to carefully plan a project and utilise only excess water that otherwise flows into the sea during rainy season.
The minister, in a written reply tabled in the House, however, stated that Ettinahole, Upper Bhadra (Part-A and B schemes), Kanganahole and Kakkattuhole schemes will be taken up, based on a detailed plan.