The Hindu : Karnataka / Mangalore News : Directive to stop using water for irrigation irks farmers

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 06, 2005

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mangalore

Directive to stop using water for irrigation irks farmers

By Jaideep Shenoy

MANGALORE, APRIL 5. With summer setting in, ensuring adequate water supply seems to have become the priority of the administration in Dakshina Kannada. The authorities concerned are trying their best to ensure that water resources are utilised efficiently.

But this has caused severe heartburn among farmers, who are protesting against the district administration's directive to the Department of Minor Irrigation to implement Section 28 of the Irrigation Act, 1965. The Act prohibits withdrawal of river water from February 1 to the end of June for agricultural purposes in order to meet drinking water requirements.

Farmers obtain a licence under the Act to withdraw water from the river for irrigation. The move to prevent farmers from doing so during summer is aimed at preventing a possible scarcity of drinking water. For farmers who have plantations and fields on the banks of the Netravathi, the Act is a reminder that they have to place their interests aside for the sake of the larger public good.

The district administration, which took a decision to this effect at a meeting held on March 30, has directed the department to ask farmers to stop drawing water from the Netravathi and its tributaries forthwith. The Executive Engineer of the department, in a press release, has said that action will be initiated against farmers under the Act if violations are noticed.

Ashok Kumar Barimaru, president of the Netravathi River Water Users' Association, in a press release criticised the directive.

He said a reduction in the quantity of water in the Netravathi is owing to the withdrawal of large quantities of water by Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. through its Sarapady vented dam. He said the directive does not address the issue.

`No formal ban'

The Deputy Commissioner, Arvind Shrivastava, told The Hindu here that there is no formal ban on withdrawal of water from the river as is being projected. "We are only implementing conditions in the Act, which states that water may not be used for purposes other than to meet drinking water requirement during summer. The farmers are aware of it," he said.

Noting that farmers cannot claim monopoly over river water, he said licences granted under the Act stipulate the type of crops they can grow in the command area of rivers. "Moreover, the district administration seeks to implement conditions of the Act only in case of exigency as was faced during the last two summers," he said.

Asked about protests by farmers against the directive, he said it is they who are taking "calculated risks" by growing crops that are water intensive. When nature was bountiful like in 2003, farmers have made fortunes. But the last two summers have been particularly testing. We need everyone's cooperation to tackle such a crisis, he said.

The administration has urged MRPL to open the gates of its storage dam at Sarapady upstream and release water into the Mangalore City Corporation's vented dam at Thumbay. This will help improve the water level at the Thumbay dam, which is the main source of drinking water to the city, he said.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News Update

Stories in this Section

Janata Dal (S) in disarray in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi

Directive to stop using water for irrigation irks farmers

Survey for issuing ration cards under way

IOC interested in setting up LPG refilling units

Accident victim dies at hospital

In Mangalore Today