MP warns of 'Ayodhya-like agitation' against Yettinahole

Dakshina Kannada MP, Nalin Kumar Kateel, on Tuesday warned of an “Ayodhya-like agitation” if the State government doesn’t scrap the Yettinahole integrated drinking water project.

Speaking at Gundya village at the end of a padayatra against the project, he said the government must not divert Nethravathi river or draw water from Yettinahole as this is the “matter of life and death of the people of Dakshina Kannada”.

Instead, it should convert seawater into potable water or recycle waste water. The project proposes to lift water from Yettinahole stream in Hassan district and transport it through hardened steel pipelines and open canal for supply to the parched districts of Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Hassan, Tumakuru, Ramanagar and Bengaluru Rural.

If the project is implemented, the river will dry up and there will be no water left in it even for religious rituals, Kateel said, adding that even Mangaluru city will face water scarcity.

Police detained Kateel, Udupi-Chikmagalur MP Shobha Karandlaje and other leaders when they tried to enter the border of Hassan district near Gundya.

The padayatra had begun at Nelyadi village and was to conclude at Yettinahole. But it could cover only 24 km as the police cut it short at Gundya, 36 km before Yettinahole.