Karnataka - Bangalore   

Minister: look at feasibility of interlinking rivers

Special Correspondent

B. Nagaraja Shetty

BANGALORE: A day after Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy held a meeting on the proposed Nethravati river diversion project, Minister for Fisheries B. Nagaraja Shetty has appealed to Mr. Kumaraswamy to initiate a survey on the feasibility of interlinking rivers in the State’s three coastal districts.

Mr. Shetty told presspersons here the people of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts were not in favour of the execution of the Nethravati project, which would divert water from the river to drought-prone Bangalore Urban, Bangalore Rural, Tumkur, Hassan, Mandya and Kolar districts. The diversion of water would cause a drinking water shortage in the coastal districts, he said.

Instead of conducting a survey on the diversion project, he urged the Chief Minister to ask the Hyderabad-based National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA) to examine the feasibility of linking west-flowing rivers in the three coastal districts. Check-dams should be constructed to harness water during the monsoon.

In a letter to Mr. Kumaraswamy, Deputy Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, and Water Resources Minister K.S. Eshwarappa, Mr. Shetty said water from the west-flowing rivers could be supplied to the drought-prone districts. On Wednesday, the Chief Minister presided over a meeting called to discuss the execution of the Nethravati diversion project. The meeting decided to take a final decision on the project after the NRSA submitted its report in June 2008.

Water from five west-flowing rivers in Dakshina Kannada, eight in Udupi and six in Uttara Kannada was going waste. Linking these rivers would meet the water requirements of all towns in the three districts. Surplus water, if available, could be supplied to drought-prone districts, he said.

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