Karnataka looks to revive Bedti river project

More than 25 years after it was first proposed, the state government is considering reviving the controversial Bedti-Varada river link project with a tweak, raising the hackles of people in Uttara Kannada and environmentalists, who had been opposing the project.

With the ‘Yettinahole model’ in mind, officials are now looking to pump the “excess” water to a place near Hirewaddatti in Gadag district instead of diverting it to Varada to feed the Tungabhadra left bank canal as was planned earlier.

The project to utilise excess water in the rivers of the Western Ghats was conceived by the National Water Development Agency (NWDA). In 1995, the NWDA came up with a pre- feasibility report for diverting about 8.5 tmcft water from two streams of Bedti river.

The Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Limited (KNNL), which sought approval for the project from the Union Environment Ministry, put it on the backburner after opposition from the Bedti and Aghanashini Valley Conservation Committee that was supported by the Sonda Swarnavalli Mutt and the people’s representatives.

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The state government is now considering a new plan to take the water from the two streams to a place near Hirewaddatti, where officials have identified an area that can store up to 100 tmc of water.

“We are planning to draw 22 tmcft of excess water from Aghanashini-Bedti rivers at Sirsi for supplying drinking water to arid regions of Raichur, Gadag and Koppal district that do not get Tungabhadra water. The work involves installing pipes for about 100 km,” a highly placed source in the government told DH.

However, the project’s endorsement in the state budget has already raised eyebrows of activists in Uttara Kannada.

“We have already seen the damage caused by the Yettinahole project where officials are finding it difficult to get even half of the water projected earlier,” said Vighneshwar Hegde of the Aghanashini Valley Conservation Committee.

“In Sirsi, not only will the project cause large-scale damage to the forest and environment, officials will find that the projection of excess water is entirely wrong.”

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The committee has called for a mass meeting on March 24 over the project.

An official, however, said they were considering the tunnel system and reduce the ‘cut and cover’ method to install pipelines. “The project is subject to the approval of the Centre. It would be carried out under the guidance of the NWDA,” he said.

Keshava H Korse, a conservation biologist based in Sirsi, said officials should first conduct a study about the carrying capacity of the two rivers as well as the Western Ghats. “It is not a Sirsi Vs Haveri issue. Water is essential for all. But the plan to draw water is not only unscientific but unsustainable,” he said.

Korse further added that the water running into the ocean is essential for the development of marine
life.

“In fact, there has been a drastic fall in the fish yield in Uttara Kannada and Dakshina Kannada coastal area due to the decline in fresh water and salt entering the ocean. Many areas fed by Bedti, especially Ankola, are already seeing drought in summer,” he said.