BANGALORE: Karnataka has decided to go ahead with the long-pending Kalasa-Banduri canal project for providing drinking water to Hubli- Dharwad at an estimated cost of Rs. 100 crore, ignoring the objections raised by Goa.

Minister for Water Resources K. Eshwarappa told presspersons here on Tuesday that civil works on the project would start by October.

Although the project was in no way detrimental to its interests, the Goa Government had been opposing it. It had been arguing that any diversion of the waters of Mandovi (Mahadayi) to Karnataka would affect the flow in the river and upset Goa's ecological and environmental balance, he said. The project, which was conceived in 1985, includes the main Kalasa-Banduri canal for diversion of 7.5 tmc.ft. of water from the Mahadayi to the Malaprabha.

The Centre first cleared the Kalasa-Banduri project, but kept it in abeyance later. Successive Governments in the State could not take up the project following withdrawal of approval by the Centre and the objections raised by Goa. A study conducted by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute in 1996 did not see any damage to ecology by the proposed project, Mr. Eswarappa said.

On how the Government could go ahead with the project when the Centre had kept it in abeyance, Mr. Eshwarappa said: "When States such as Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh can launch illegal projects overnight why should the State be hesitant in launching a project on its own land for using its own waters? We will convince the Centre about the feasibility of the project and urge it to lift the stay," he added.

Upper Bhadra project

Mr. Eshwarappa said the Government was hopeful of launching the Rs. 4,150-crore Upper Bhadra project in about three months. The Government discussed at length the KC Reddy Committee report on the project at a meeting on Monday. It would study the suggestions made by legislators and others at the meeting.

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