Govt. released additional water to industries from Hidkal dam, say farmers
The Department of Irrigation, under requests from the Department of Industries has released over 0.229 tmcft. of Ghataprabha river water for industries, against the allocation of 0.1 tmcft. of water from the Raja Lakhamagouda reservoir. The full reservoir capacity is 51 tmcft.
The government's response has become important in the wake of reports that the department of industries has obtained the release of a further 0.5tmcft. of water from the dam to the Dharwad industrial area.
A Right To Information application by activist Sujit Mulgund has revealed that from the dam State government had released 'excess water' to industries. 'This is legally and ethically wrong. While the rule says that only 0.1 tmcft. is to be set aside for industries. Secondly, the cities of Belagavi, Bagalkot and en route villages depend on the Hidkal dam for drinking water. In fact, they suffer from water scarcity during summer months as the water levels in the dam are reduced. In such a situation, it is a cruel joke on the people of north Karnataka to divert drinking water for industries,'' he said.
'The State government has also acted in a non-democratic manner, by not taking into confidence, the local irrigation consultative committee of the Hidkal dam, in deciding to release water to industries,' he said. This dam was not built to benefit just a few industries. Its primary task is to support the rural poor, Mr. Mulgund said. 'The State government has violated the National Water Policy of 2011, that gives preference to drinking water and agriculture, over industrial usage,' he added.
A delegation of farmers led by former Minister Shashikant Naik has urged the State government not to draw water from Hidkal for Dharwad industrial area. Another team led by water expert B. Anand Kumar, advocate Nitin Tolbandi, Mr. Mulgund and others have suggested that treated sewage water from Belagavi and Dharwad could be utilised for industrial purposes, rather than drinking water from dams.
Mr. Naik said they would appeal to the State government again, to stop supply of Ghataprabha waters to industrial areas. 'If the government does not listen to us, we will protest and stop the water supply pipeline works,' he said.
Established in 1961, the Hidkal Dam was meant exclusively for irrigation and drinking water. It is named after Raja Lakhamagouda, the erstwhile head of a local princely state, and philanthropist who donated land and resources to several educational institutions in British India.
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