Karnataka - Belgaum   

Saundatti, Ramdurg farmers demand water for irrigation

DEMANDING WATER: Farmers of Saundatti and Ramdurg taluks staging a protest in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Belgaum on Friday.

Belgaum: Worried over the prospect of water scarcity during summer, residents and farmers of 17 villages in Saundatti and Ramdurg taluks on Friday staged a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office here.

They were demanding immediate steps to create permanent schemes to mitigate the shortage problem by taking up long-pending proposal on Sri Veerabhadra Lift Irrigation Scheme. They urged the Governor to ensure allocation of Rs. 141 crore in the annual budget for 2008-09 and direct departments concerned to take up construction work expeditiously.

The demonstration was led by Sri Veerabhadra Lift Irrigation Scheme Horata Samiti Convener B.M. Malali. Farmers and villagers of Itnal, Sattigeri, Kurbagatti, Kodliwad, Gudamkeri and Kordoppa of Saundatti taluk and Chikkoppa (K.S.), Hirekoppa (K.S.), Murkatnal, Gudagoppa, M. Chandargi, K. Chandargi, Sidnal, Totagatti, Kesargoppa, Bijguppi and Kadampur of Ramdurg taluk participated in the demonstration.

Mr. Malali said nearly 50,000 villagers from 17 villages in two taluks had been chronically affected by shortage of water for drinking and irrigation purposes for the past five decades. At least 40,000 acres of land in these villages were under cultivation but their crop production had been meagre for want of irrigational facilities. As a result, many farmers and farm workers migrated to towns and cities in search of jobs.

Several representations to the taluk authorities and elected representatives went in vain.

Fresh representations were made to Tahsildars of Saundatti and Ramdurg on February 8 and 13.

Ironically, the two tahsildars maintained that the villages had been covered under Sri Rameshwar Lift Irrigation Scheme and Bellary Nala project, which were nearing completion.

But the samiti had not discovered any permanent scheme taken up for providing drinking water to these villages.

Mr. Malali said that nearly 2.70 tmcft of water under the Ghataprabha Project was being saved and there were indications of distributing this quantity of water to some other areas.

The Governor should make budgetary allocation of Rs. 141 crore to take up construction work on Sri Veerabhadra Lift Irrigation Scheme to utilise the water from Ghataprabha project and solve the problem of drinking water and irrigational requirements of these 178 villages permanently.

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