Pics: Spoorthi Ullal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (DV)

Mangaluru, Sep 3: The Netravati Samrakshana Samiti along with other like-minded organization on Thursday September 3 held a protest against the Yettinahole Intergrated Drinking Water Project near DC's office here.

The protestors, one of whom came on a horseback, posed 10 questions to the ministers and MLAs of Dakshina Kannada and said that if they do not answer them by September 19, they should drop the project.

Addressing the protest, president of the Samiti Dinesh Holla said, "On September 19 we will hold a public meet in which elected representatives will be invited. They should answer the 10 questions we have pose. If they give satisfactor answers, we will not protest in future, but if they do not, they must drop the Yettinahole project. Until September 19 we will continue our protest.

"People have joined here irrespective of caste, creed and religion. This is an effort to save our river.
There is an indirect attempt on the part of the government to take water from Kumaradhara and thereby enforce the reccommendations of Paramashivaiah report," he added.

Lamenting lack of support from the people of the district to the agitation, he said, "The government is going ahead with this project because of the silence of people. When tthere is any communal issue, people descend on the streets but when it comes to serious issues like water and threat to river, no one is coming forward. People of the district have to take this issue very seriously."

Kateel Dinesh Pai said, "Elected representatives will be responsible if there is any negative impact from the Yettinahole project on our district."

Slamming MLA J R Lobo for saying that he was not aware of the report prepared by IISC which found the project harmful, and also district incharge minister Ramanath Rai for approving the project, Dinesh Pai said, "What was J R Lobo doing from two years? Why is there no proper response from Ramanath Rai? Ramanath Rai is the chairman of the biodiversity forum and he has to sign for the project to be sanctioned. If he cannot reject the project, he should resign.

"MP Nalin Kumar Kateel says he has written to the centre about the project. He must clarify as to whom he has written to. He should say why he is unable to stop this project," he added.

"The zilla panchayat elections will be held soon. If the elected representatives do not stand by the people of Dakshina Kannada, we will hold a serious campaign against all the people's representatives," he warned.

Abhinav from Sakleshpur who came to the protest on horseback, said, "I came from Sakleshpur to join this effort to save the Netravati. The entire Dakshina Kannada will be affected because of this project. I will be creating awareness to save Netravati by travelling around the district on horseback."

Ramachandra Baikampady spoke on the problems Yettinahole project would create for fishermen and said, "In Paramashivaiah committee report it is stated that 400 TMC of water goes into the sea through the estuary. If that is the case, the entire place would have been washed away by now. Fishing is as important as agriculture. If water is taken away, then fish breeding will be affected and in turn, fishing activity itself will decline."

Yogish Shetty also spoke on the occasion.

Students performed a street play to create awareness on the issue.

The questions raised by the protestors are:

1. Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, a central government concern, has assessed availability of water from Yettinahole project at 9.55 tmc. Out of this, only 1.25 tmc would be available for being diverted eastward as per this report. As against this assessment, government is going ahead with project for 24 tmc water. Does this mean that the government wants to replenish shortfall by diverting Kumaradhara and Netravati rivers?

2. Karnataka Irrigation Corporation has estimated water availability from Yettinahole project area as 24 tmc. This entire water would be routed to distant districts without leaving anything for local agricultural and other needs. In affect, about one lac crore rupees would be spent to get 0.85 tmc of water as per report of IISc. Has a detailed study been conducted to find out which version is right, and is someone who has committed blunder in calculations being made to face punitive action?

3. The project requires clearance from forest department and bio-diversity board, both of which are headed by Dakshina Kannada district in-charge minister, B Ramanath Rai. Having been vested with power to reject permission, has he conducted detailed study?

4. Kolar district in-charge minister, U T Khader, had earlier talked about satiating water needs of Kolar through Eremallappa project. He should oppose Yettinahole project, which is grossly insufficient for his district. In normal course, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts get rain of about 200 tmc every year, and a permanent irrigation project, if implemented, can easily meet water requirement of 6 tmc needed by these districts.;

5. The project needs lot of electricity, and Dakshina Kannada district, where PCPIR,SEZ,smart city project etc are being implemented will be requiring million litres of water and power. At present, the district is reeling under power cuts. What are the plans to meet this requirement?

6. Who will be held responsible for the loss if one lac crore invested for the project if it proves to be a failure? 

7. What about conservation of elephant corridor project, Mangluru-Bengaluru railway tracks and national highway which pass through near this project area?

8. What about the ill affects of the project on fishing? Has minister Abhaychandra Jain made a study on this?

9 and 10 (combined). Will not diverting Yettinahole water to Palar river or Hemavati river, a tributary of Kaveri river, give rise to inter-state water disputes? Will Tamil Nadu force us to slump to our knees for executing any project in these rivers or even River Netravati?