Water project to benefit parts of Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, irks farmers in Davangere

In yet another instance of inter-district water dispute, a project to provide drinking water for villages and towns in Chikkamagaluru and Chitradurga districts from a Bhadra canal outlet has caused unrest among farmers who are the existing beneficiaries of the reservoir. The farmers are worried that an outlet to the right bank canal close to the reservoir might deny the supply of sufficient water to the tail-end cultivators.

In the latest initiative under the Bhadra Reservoir Project, the State government has taken up works to provide drinking water for 146 villages of Chikkamagaluru taluk, 156 habitations in Tarikere, 434 rural habitations of Kadur, 346 villages in Hosadurga (Chitradurga district), besides the Hosadurga town. The project was approved in May, 2022. The total estimated cost for the project is ₹1,829.93 crore.

A similar inter-district dispute has unfolded over Hemavati River Link Canal Project in Tumakuru district, with Tumakuru farmers, supported by opposition leaders, accusing the Congress government of attempting to divert water to taluks of Bengaluru South district.

Farmers’ anxiety

The Bhadra Reservoir Project, overall, intends to irrigate over 1.05 lakh hectares spread over Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga and Davangere districts. The right bank canal, which is about 103 km long, takes water to parts of Davangere district from the reservoir. As per the design of the drinking water project, water would be drawn from an outlet of the right bank canal close to the reservoir, located at Lakkavalli in Tarikere taluk.

The farmers’ organizations and politicians of Davangere have raised objections to this, claiming that the outlet at the right bank canal will deny water to the needy farmers. They are worried as, already, the tail-end farmers in the Harapanahalli area are suffering without sufficient water. The new drinking water project would worsen the problems faced by the tail-end growers, they contend.

Former minister M.P. Renukacharya, Harihar MLA B.P. Harish, leader of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha K.T. Gangadhar and others have opposed the project. They argue that they are not against the drinking water project. However, the project should not harm the farmers depending on the canal.

The Bhadra reservoir has a gross capacity of 71.535 TMC. As much as 7.5 TMC has been allocated for drinking water purposes. Making use of this allocation, the RDPR has worked out the new project.

Meeting held

Following the opposition by farmers, a meeting was held at the office of the Superintendent Engineer of the Bhadra project on June 23, under the chairmanship of D. Sudhakar, Minister for Planning and Statistics, who is also in charge of the Chitradurga district.

People’s representatives and officers from Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga and Davangere participated in the meeting. The Minister and officers tried to convince the Legislators of Davangere stating that the farmers would not suffer, as the project would utilise only the 30 cusecs of water to be released from the reservoir additionally.

However, those opposing the design argued for a separate aqueduct for the drinking water project instead of an outlet for the existing canal. They also expressed concern over the safety of the canal with the construction of the outlet.

Stopped for now

The meeting concluded with a decision to take a technical opinion on the design and its impact on the canal from the experts of the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru. Until then, the work would be stopped. A team of experts from IISC visited the project site recently.

Farmers and political leaders of Davangere districts have, meanwhile, planned protests to bring pressure on the government to change the design of the project. On the other hand, there have also been protests by those who will benefit from the project, such as in Hosadurga of Chitradurga district, seeking for its speedy implementation.