HONNALI: Lingaiah may not have found the precious metal in his fields but he still has struck gold, for he raises two crops of paddy here a year. All thanks to the abundant flow of Bhadra waters from the right bank canal of the Lakkavali dam. That the area abounds in significant gold deposits is another matter.
After a survey in December 2016, Geological Survey of India announced that the third largest gold deposits (after KGF and Hutti) lie between Honnali (honnu is gold in Kannada) and Shikaripur, an area of 600 sqkm. But for farmers here, who shifted from cotton to paddy after the collapse of the textile industry, “paddy is more than gold”.
Copious prosperity
The size and rich taste of watermelons in Malebennur village shows how lives of people in this region changed since the Bhadra waters began flowing here.The picture becomes clearer as we see the copious flow of Bhadra in the nearby canal at Heluvanakatte Giriyamma (right in pic), a 200-year-old temple that had its ‘mahadwar sthapane’ in 1902. Devotees say, “Giriyamma has blessed us with both water and paddy. What more do we need?”
In the nearby Kumbalur village, K Manjappa is overlooking the spraying of herbicides on paddy crops spread over his two-and-a-half acres. He informs Express that they are able to raise two crops a year if the dam has water up to 60 ft. “We get water from a sub-channel of the main Bhadra canal, and since the water level in the dam is presently only 23 feet, we have been promised water only till May 10,” he said.
Upper Bhadra scare
However, to our surprise, farmers even in this region, where almost four taluks have got the benefit of Bhadra waters and grow paddy in land in excess of 68,000 hectares against an allotted area of 40,000 hectares, are scared of the impact of Upper Bhadra Project. They feel if this project is implemented, water share in both Davangere and Harihar taluks will be affected.
The right candidate
A close fight is on the cards between sitting MLA H S Shivshankar of JD (S) and B P Harish of the BJP. But farmers say none of the parties have been concerned about their plight in the central districts, be it on the pricing of paddy or the timely release of Bhadra waters.
Straight fight
K Manjappa says, “Over the last five years, the JD (S) MLA of Harihar had a ready-made explanation: ‘Since it’s not our government, we cannot do much.’ The BJP candidate promises a lot and is a good worker. We hope at least this time we elect the right person. It will be a straight fight between these two as there is no support here for the Congress candidate. With Lingayats dominating the area, people will not vote for Congress' Kuruba candidate.” In Honnalli, Shantangouda, the sitting Congress legislator faces a tough challenge from the loser of the 2013 polls, M P Renukacharya, a close confidant of Yeddyurappa. Both in Honnalli and Harihar, the presence of KJP had resulted in the defeat of BJP candidates, but this time “the scenario has changed and there won’t be any division of votes”, according to party workers.
Excess land irrigated
Chandramohan Airani, an agro-industry expert, says half of Davangere comes under Bhadra Command Area. “Paddy is the main crop with rice mills set up all along the bypass roads. Sasala Halla or Sulekere Halla (at Basapatna), which is considered Asia’s biggest lake, flows through Davanagere and Harihar providing ample water for crops. Four taluks here have benefited but at the same time farmers have overexploited the facility by taking up excess area under irrigation with the result that tail-end farmers are deprived of water,” he said. In the blazing weather conditions with only a few villages, we witness an election meeting in progress at Hosakatte village – appealing to vote for the BJP. Workers urge farmers to vote for Renukacharya, who promised to bring “gold mining” to villages.