DAVANGERE: Elected representatives of Davangere district held a preliminary meeting with regard to the proposed life irrigation scheme near Channagiri on Sunday.

The scheme envisages lifting of five tmcft of water from the Tungabhadra to the Soolekere tank from where it will be distributed to 10 taluks of Davangere and Chitradurga districts for drinking purposes.

Leaders who attended the meeting decided to hold another meeting on July 5 in Bangalore before meeting the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, to impress upon him to sanction the Rs. 112-crore project.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Mahima Patel, Chennagiri MLA and secretary-general of the Janata Dal (Secular).

Soolekere, which is described as the second biggest tank in Asia, has a storage capacity of around 3 tmcft of water. It is proposed to draw five tmcft of water from the Thungabhadra at different stages. It is further planned to retain about 2.5 tmcft of water in the tank all through the year and supply the remaining 2.5 tmcft of water to the two districts.

Water from there tank is supplied for irrigation to about 2,900 hectares of land. It is also a source of drinking water to Channagiri and surrounding areas.

While many representatives supported the project, some said that the pros and cons of it should be examined before implementation. S.A. Ravindranath, Mayakonda MLA, said that power Rs. 40 crores will have to be spent on power to lift the water from the river and supply it to the tank.

Design

Rajashekarappa, retired Superintendent Engineer and technical adviser to the scheme, said the project has been designed keeping in mind the "aqua requirement" of the two districts in the next 25 years.

He said that lifting water from the river using electricity would call for an expenditure of Rs. 35 crores a month, as it required at least 40 MW of power. He suggested for adoption of the co-generation technique to avoid huge expenditure on power.

He said that seven tmcft of water may be required for Chitradurga and Davangere districts by 2011, and hence it is advisable to prepare the project to bring 10 tmcft of water at a cost of about Rs.150 crores.

The Holehonnur MLA, G. Basavanappa, while supporting the project, suggested that Soolekere be made a tourist spot.

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