Sharavathy water to B'luru: Shivamogga bandh on July 10

The Save River Sharavathy Agitation Federation has decided to call for a Shivamogga district bandh on July 10, in protest against the government's plan to draw water from Linganamakki dam to Bengaluru.

The decision was taken at the consultative meeting attended by elected representatives and members of various associations here on Saturday.

The meeting also decided to form a panel headed by energy expert Shankar Sharma to study the pros and cons of the project and submit a report to the government.

The Federation has planned to conduct meetings in each taluk and inform people about the adverse impact of the project on Malnad region in the near future, to gather support for the agitation. A panel consisting of noted writer Na D'Souza and theatre director Prasanna has been formed for this purpose.

At Saturday's meeting, D'Souza said River Sharavathy was a small one that flows only 130 km and Bengaluru was situated above the sea level at 2,500 feet. So, the project is not feasible.

He said the government's plan to draw water from the dam to Bengaluru by spending crores of rupees was meaningless.

Prasanna said the uncontrolled urbanisation and development of Bengaluru was the main reason for its water crisis.

"Many villages in North Karnataka get water once in a month. The government is under the impression that development of Bengaluru is the progress of the state," he said.

Writer Shashi Sampalli said people of Malnad should have opposed when the committee headed by B Tyagaraj submitted a report to the government in 2013 that water could be drawn from Linganamakki dam to Bengaluru.

Energy expert Shankar Sharma said the government may have to utilise 50% of power generated from the dam to execute the proposed project. Many panels formed by the government do not have experts. The proposed project is not feasible in any manner.