Continued funding for Yettinahole project has Greens in Dakshina Kannada see red

MANGALURU: A move by chief minister BS Yediyurappa to set aside Rs 1500 crore in the state budget 2020-21 for the "Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Project" has riled the Greens in Dakshina Kannada district. With Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam Limited tasked with implementing this project, Greens have dubbed this project as perpetual ‘ATM’ for governments irrespective of the political dispensation at Vidhan Soudha – seat of power in Bengaluru.
Dinesh Holla, coordinator, Sahyadri Sanchaya that has been in the forefront of fight against the project told TOI that Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd that was first tasked with implementing the project and VJNL now implementing the project have both admitted there is no surplus water available at Yettinahole that can be diverted for potable use. “This project will go on for at least next 25-years with no tangible end result in sight," Holla surmised.
In setting aside funds for the project, the present BJP government just as Siddaramaiah in the past and HD Kumaraswamy, his predecessor after that and Yediyurappa now have consistently shown the "monetary" usefulness of the project, he said. When people of Bayaluseeme, Malnad and even ‘Karavali’ (coast) have all been opposing the project, one must wonder why and for whom is this government striving to implement it for, he said.
With 6-years since the project was started and no end in sight, Holla dared the VJNL authorities to show availability of water in the catchment areas of the project – namely Kadagarahalli, Hiradanahalli, Hebbasale, Heggade and Maranahalli. These areas have been blasted during the project implementation stage and there is no sign of water, he said, adding the blasting activities have had a major impact on ecologically sensitive Western Ghats.
This can be gauged from the fact that the Western Ghats region saw extensive landslips during the last monsoon, he said. With lack of water, plans were also drawn to divert waters of the Kapila river through a tunnel, Holla said, adding the entire project is nothing but an elaborate scheme to kill the Nethravathi river, that is lifeline of this coastal district in instalments. This will only perpetuate water scarcity in this district in the future, he observed.
Increased human activities in areas that are the originating spots for Aniyoor and Mruthyunjaya rivulets, tributaries of the Nethravathi, establishment of home stay resorts, mushrooming of coffee estates have only added to the ecological imbalance. There has been growing instances of forest fires in these regions, he said adding unless there is urgent rethink on this ecologically disastrous project, coastal district of Dakshina Kannada will suffer in future.