MANGALURU: The green canopy across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts hides a stark reality on the ground. The region is struggling with acute water shortage having grappled with consecutive drought years. Rivers and rivulets are drying up, ground water table has dipped and farmers are desperately looking at other avenues for a livelihood.
Seventy-year-old Leela from Periaodibeedu in Bantwal taluk has abandoned cultivation in her two-acre farm.
“There is no water in the well and I am not able to afford a borewell, so I abandoned farming. I tried rolling beedies for a livelihood, but age is taking its toll on me”, she sighs in desperation.
And, she is one among many farmers, whose lives have drastically changed for the worse because of the drought.
“If there was water, I wouldn’t be staring at this empty paddy fields now,” quips Sridhara (62) from the same village. He used to cultivate his land round the year, but dwindling rainfall and lack of manpower has forced him to go for only one paddy crop, that too if the rains don’t betray him. “I am using borewells to sustain my areca and coconut plantations, but the water level is steadily declining,” he
adds, his faced creased with anxiety.
Unlike other parts of Karnataka, irrigation in this region is rain-fed and the paddy varieties cultivated here are exotic — a red grain variety.
About 4000-5000 mm of rainfall during the monsoon was enough to sustain agriculture, but things are not the same as before.
“Rainfall started dwindling after 1984 and now the rains are unpredictable and erratic. Last year, my entire areca crop was lost because of incessant untimely rains for a month,” rues Sridhara, now he shows the fallow land, and bone dry stream near it. “Though not in full flow, there used to be water in this stream even at this time of the year. But the water bodies and land are drying up pretty fast,” he says.
Giridhar, a farmer at Manihalla village dreads the thought of below average monsoon. “As of now, I am managing with a single borewell, even for drinking water. What will I do if this one dries out?” he questions pointing to the dried-up open well.
For a region which used to receive abundant rain, the groundwater table should be good. But arecanut farmer Ravi says they have started breaching the 500-600 feet mark for sinking borewells. “If groundwater depletes further, we will be in big trouble”, he rues.
Manohar Shetty, a farmers’ leader from Moodbidri, says the situation is similar across Dakshina Kannada district.
“There is acute water shortage across the district. There can be some hope of revival, if there are copious rains”, he says.
In Udupi district, the situation is no better. Even before the month of May, Sita river has dried up, raising questions about the drinking water and irrigation needs of people living in areas like Hebri, Guddemane, Bangarugudde, Haadimane, Krishnabettu and Kanthanadi among others.
Not just that, streams like Moormudi Hole, Shivapura Hole, Maathibettu Hole, Kelakila Hole and Yennehole, which once helped maintain the water level in nearby wells, have started drying up.
In Uttara Kannada district, Bhatkal, Karwar, Mundgod, Yellapur and Haliyal taluks have been declared as drought-hit.
Many villages in the coastal as well as Malnad taluks of the district are facing drinking water shortage.
Has the crop loan waiver and PM’s KISAN schemes helped the farmers? “I have never applied”, rued Leela.
Farmer Sridhara says, the beneficiaries under these schemes are usually farmers who have political clout or influence.
“It is like the same farmers who receive the benefits again and again, while those like me get nothing”, he says, adding that there “is an issue with land documents” since the death of his father.
Manohar Shetty, the farmer leader, however maintains a good number of people have received letters, waiving off their loans. “But money has not been disbursed due to the election code of conduct. The loan waiver is a temporary measure though. There should be a long-term strategy to address farmer distress”, he feels.
The farming community shares his view that there are no proactive measures taken by the government to tackle the drought situation. They are also upset that the state government is planning to take water from the west-flowing rivers to other parts of the state through the Yettinahole project. “We need more check dams to preserve rainwater flowing in the rivers and streams so that the groundwater table improves. This should be done on a war-footing”, says Shetty.
Scientist Harish Shenoy from Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Dakshina Kannada says the same: “It is the time we start taking up water conservation measures as Dakshina Kannada district is getting lesser and lesser rains every year. The crop patterns have to be changed. More importantly, we have to conserve as much rainwater as possible during monsoons through structures like check dams”, he added. But is anyone in Delhi or Bangaluru listening?
Unfortunate that water crisis is not a poll issue
Major political parties like the Congress, BJP and JD (S) are busy with their election campaigns along the coast. Sadly, the water crisis does not figure in their priorities. “We should question our candidates on what they are going to do ensure water for all. Unfortunately, people get carried away and we should remember we won’t get a chance for the next five years after we miss this opportunity”, says environmentalist Dinesh Holla