Shimoga: Some powerful pontiffs of Hindu mutts have warned both State and Centre that the people of Western Ghats will be forced to demand a separate state if the government goes ahead with the controversial diversion of west flowing rivers in Karnataka to the East.
Seer Jayendra Saraswathi of ancient Sonda-Swarnavalli Mutt has described the proposal as unscientific. Talking to the media, he said that the government was planning to provide water to the dry lands of the state by diverting the flow of rivers causing irreparable damage to the most sensitive ecology of the Western Ghats, which is considered one of the top five bio-hotspots in the World.
He said that many other seers in the Western Ghats and Coastal Karnataka are also against the diversion of west flowing rivers to the east. He urged local MLAs, MLCs and MPs to oppose the project.
According to reports the government is planning to divert Nethravathi, Swarna, Varahi and Kali to the East. Many major rivers in Karnataka like Sharavathi, Nethravathi, Kali, Bedthi, Aghanashini, Swarna, Seetha and Varahi flow towards West and join the Arabian Sea.
Many in the government argue that it is a colossal waste of water and it can irrigate the entire state all 365 days. Environment experts and local people are opposing any such move arguing that it can cause havoc to the ecology.
Background
West-flowing rivers constitute a major portion of the yield - nearly 2,000 TMC annually, which works out to be 58 per cent of the total yield in Karnataka. Due to the narrow coastal belt, a major portion of the water goes unutilised into the Arabian Sea.
But, it is not technically viable, nor financially feasible to harness the water due to environment constraints and the presence of Western Ghats barrier due to high altitude. Hence, an effort has been made to divert only a meager percentage of 0.54 TMC of water from the upper reaches of Western Ghats near the plateau, the feasibility report says.
The intensity of rainfall in the Western Ghats is very high and it is in the range of above 6,500 mm at higher altitudes. It is also a home to thousands of animal species including at least 325 globally endangered species. Developmental projects in the coast including Sharavathi, Kali and Varahi projects have not resulted in any ecological imbalance in the region, the report says.
Government denies
The Water Resources Department insists that the government has no plans to divert any of the West flowing rivers including Netravati to East. But environmentalists of the coastal districts say there is no merit in the argument as the government is contemplating diverting Yettinahole water. Many citizens' groups, politicians, the scientific community as well as politicians have raised serious objections to the proposal.
For example, Prof SG Mayya, Chairman, Civil Engineering department, National Institute of Technology Karnataka, Suratkal says Yettinahole and Kumaradharathat are Netravati's major tributaries. Diverting Yettinahole is as good as diverting Netravati.
"Netravati's origin is Yettinahole. Later Kumaradhara joins. There is severe water shortage for eight months in many parts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. Netravati is the lifeline of these districts. I do not see any merit in the inter-basin water transfer scheme. When the river water is going to Arabian Sea, why not be made use of it?" For this, Mayya says such arguments doesn't make any sense because when the coast is parched for eight months in a year, the government must be providing water to the downstream rather than planning to divert water.
"River water has to flow to sea. Why are we forgetting aquatic life? Fishermen will be in trouble if the inflow to sea reduces. The G S Paramashivaiah committee too had recommended diversion of rivers. I had raised many pertinent questions for which Paramashivaiah had no answer. Of course, technically there is nothing impossible. No doubt, Kolar and other districts have severe water shortage problem. But the situation in the coast is no better."
####Picture courtesy: Basti Dinesh Shenoy
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