The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Kalasa-Banduri Nala project gains momentum

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Aug 06, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Kalasa-Banduri Nala project gains momentum

Govind D. Belgaumkar

It will meet drinking water needs in the Bombay Karnataka region

BANGALORE: Karnataka appears to have shed whatever inhibitions it may have had in the execution of a project designed to meet the drinking water needs of people in the Bombay Karnataka region, including Hubli-Dharwad. This is evident in the manner in which Water Resources Minister K.S. Eshwarappa announced the other day that the Government would go ahead with work on the Rs. 100-crore Kalasa-Banduri Nala project.

The project envisages the diversion of 7.56 tmcft of water from the Kalasa and the Banduri, two tributaries of the west-flowing Mahadayi river in Khanapur taluk of Belgaum district, to the Malaprabha dam at Navilthirth in Saundatti taluk in the district.

In-principle clearance

The Centre gave its "in-principle clearance" to the project in 2000, but then kept it in abeyance on the grounds that it needed clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. This, according to political circles here, was a sequel to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government succumbing to pressure from Goa, where the BJP was in power then.

Since then, the Centre has been dragging its feet on withdrawing the order keeping in abeyance the in-principle clearance and also on the subsequent plea by Goa that the dispute be referred to a tribunal under the provisions of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act.

Karnataka's case is that it needs, at the moment, to use only 7.56 tmcft of water out of the total yield of around 200 tmcft in the Mahadayi, which can be adjusted against Karnataka's share as and when the waters are apportioned. The State's view is that it is entitled to a share of 45 tmcft on the basis of the geographical area coming under the Mahadayi basin.

Goa's stand is that any diversion of Mahadayi waters would endanger the fragile ecology of its riverine system.

Initially, the proposal was to divert water from the Mahadayi but the project made no headway. H.K. Patil, Water Resources Minister in the Krishna government, thought of diverting water from two of the tributaries instead of the river and secured in-principle clearance from the Centre. With the exit of Mr. Patil from the Ministry, the proposal virtually became an orphan.

State's stand

Therefore, Mr. Eshwarappa's announcement assumes significance. Karnataka's stand is that it is essentially a drinking water project and needs no clearance from either the Centre or Goa. "The crucial question at the moment is whether the State Government has the political will to implement the same," Basavaraj Bommai, Janata Dal (U) MLC and president of the Malaprabha Achukattu Pradesha Raithara Okkuta, said while welcoming Mr. Eshwarappa's initiative. Until forest clearance was obtained, Karnataka could go ahead with work in non-forest areas, he said.

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

Karnataka