HASSAN: Stone mining and crushing units have posed a danger to 40-year-old Hemavathi reservoir near Gorur in Hassan district.
Often blasting at stone mining units nearby government and forest land impacts adjacent villages where the people often reportedly experienced vibrations.
The police and the officials of mines and geology have recovered huge quantities of blasting materials from different quarrying units especially from the villages adjacent to Gorur.
It may be recalled that Hassan rural police have recovered 80 kg of illegal blasting materials of gelatin sticks and detonators near Gorur police station limits recently. Purushotam, a private civil engineer, opined that stone mining at least 15 km away from the reservoir must be stopped for the safety purpose.
Renowned architects said the life of reservoirs is 50 to 100 years. They start losing strength after fifty years, he added.
Brushing aside the threat to the reservoir from stone mining units, an engineer attached to Gorur Dam division said the department is carrying regular maintenance of crest gates, plugging of leakage and filling of cracks under the dam restoration, and implementing the project.
Sannegowda, a farmer, said that the Hemavathi reservoir is the lifeline of Hassan, Tumakuru, and parts of the Mandya districts. Over 3 lakh acres of land is irrigated by the Hemavathi project. Therefore, the need of the hour is to stop the stone mining and quarrying near the reservoir to protect it, he added.
Hemavathi reservoir has a capacity of 37.103 TMC and has a large catchment area.