27-Jan-2017: Activists threaten to go on hunger strike

Activists opposing the Yettinahole diversion project have threatened to go on an indefinite hunger strike if the State government did not take a decision to stop the project.

The strike will be held under aegis of the Netravathi Rakshana Samyukta Samiti. Activists said, the State government is going ahead with the project sidelining the concerns over the non-availability of water and damage to the eco-sensitive Western Ghats. Kambala is held more in areas lying on the river banks of Netravathi and it should be protected for survival of kambala.

The eastern districts of Karnataka; Kolar and Chikkaballapur are frequently affected by drought due to erratic rainfall and absence of any perennial source of water for drinking purposes for the populace as well as livestock in the region. It is a long standing demand of the people in the region that a permanent and dependable source of water be identified and these areas are supplied with assured drinking water. Furthermore, the ground water table in these regions has reached alarming depths due to over exploitation, as a consequence of which the available ground water is contaminated with harmful salts like Fluoride, Nitrate, etc. in excess of permissible level.

Various studies were undertaken to identify the sources of water to supply to these districts. During the course of such studies, one of the proposals which was considered apt to be taken up for further consideration was harnessing west flowing Yettinahole, Kadumanehole, Kerihole and Hongadahalla originating in the upper reaches of Western Ghats near Sakleshpura. It is proposed to divert about 24.01 TMC of water from these streams during the monsoon period from June to October. The proposal is to divert the excess flow by constructing 8 weirs restricting the height to avoid any submergence.

The project aims to provide safe drinking water to the drought prone areas of Kolar, Chikkaballapur and other needy areas of Hasan, Ramanagara, Chikmagalur, Bangalore (Rural), Tumkur enroute along with filling up of 527 Nos of MI tanks to its 50% capacity with a view to recharge the ground water besides dilution of chemical contaminants of which fluoride is predominant.