Karnataka   

A generational injustice

With water level in wells receding, women fetch water from the river

SACRIFICE IN VAIN?: Subbe Gowda, a resident of Kannambadi village. — PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

Almost a century ago, the inhabitants of Kannambadi village sacrificed their homes and lands located on the banks of river Cauvery for the construction of Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoir to help meet the irrigation requirements in thousands of acres of parched land in the region.

Ironically, their descendents now resettled at a new village called Hosa Kannambadi, situated farther away from the river, have been facing acute drinking water scarcity for several years now.

Though the residents Kannambadi village have been crying themselves hoarse for proper drinking water supply, successive Governments have turned a deaf ear to their plight. "Most of the agricultural land owned by Kannambadi villagers is rain-fed. Neither is our agricultural land irrigated by Cauvery, nor do we receive drinking water supply from the river. The borewell water provided to the village is grossly insufficient to meet our requirements. This is the price we are paying for the gesture shown by our ancestors," remarked octogenarian resident of the village Subbe Gowda.

With water level in the open wells receding, the womenfolk in the village have been left with the only option of fetching water from the river, which flows at a distance of two to three km. Though the last surviving inhabitant of the submerged Kannambadi village Thimmamma died at a ripe old age of 105 years about seven months ago, the descendents of the evacuees are proud of the sacrifice their forefathers made to help impound Cauvery water in the reservoir and provide irrigation to agricultural fields.

Thimmamma's son and retired school teacher Subbe Gowda (82), who was born in Hosa Kannambadi after the evacuation, said that his mother had worked as a labourer for the construction of KRS dam for several years after their evacuation. She paid a visit to the site of the original Kannambadi village when it resurfaced four to five years ago on account of a steep decline in the water level, recalled Subbe Gowda. "She used to tell us how easy it was to fetch water from the river, which was flowing just by the village".

Laiqh A Khan in Mysore

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