MANGALORE: Minister for Fisheries and Endowment and district in-charge B. Nagaraj Shetty said on Sunday said several companies had come forward to set up 13 hydropower projects in Dakshina Kannada.

Speaking to presspersons at Muchchur, he said the Government would ensure that agricultural land was not submerged by these projects. The companies would be asked to supply drinking water to nearby villages from a dam built to generate electricity.

This would serve the dual purpose of generating power on one hand and supplying drinking water on the other. Otherwise the Government had to spend on a separate drinking water project, he said. The companies would be asked to give an undertaking on the same before implementing the projects.

Mr. Shetty said the drilling of borewells was not a solution to the drinking water problem in the district. He was for constructing check dams across rivers. Apart from enabling the recharge of ground water, check dams would help mitigate the drinking water problem, he added. The Minister said he wanted to emulate the Gujarat model of building check dams. In Gujarat, thousands of check dams have been built, he added.

Mr. Shetty said there was a proposal to build a check dam across Maravoor in the Surathkal Assembly constituency. He would pursue the proposal and ensure that the dam was built there at an estimated cost of Rs. 14 crore.

To a question he said the Deputy Commissioner would hold a meeting with the Adyapadi Dam Users' Committee on Tuesday to settle an issue related to the opposition of villagers of Ganjimath and nearby five villages to supply water to Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) at Ganjimath.

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