Lack of drinking water pipelines is just one part of the problem for villages located along the river Cauvery. An erratic scheme of power supply does not let the villagers use their borewells, leaving them with no water for days on end.
“I will be an old woman before Cauvery water reaches my village”, says a resigned 30-year-old Anupama, a resident of Nagarsekote. The village receives water through five small taps once in 3 days. “When there is power, they start the borewell. Else, we store water as much as we can”, says another woman from the same village.
The situation does not improve near the 24 MW Shimsha/Shivanasamudra hydel power station. Living just 5 km away from Shimsha, Jayamma of Hebbani village is forced to store water to last her four days since power supply is unpredictable.
The hydel power station has stopped generation from one week, as the water was required on priority for drinking purposes in Bangalore. Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd officials maintained that generation could be resumed almost instantly if water was available.
Search for The Elusive Cauvery
■ Day one of the trip led us to Biligundlu, 190 km downstream from KRS, where Karnataka officially hands over Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu.
■ Travelling almost 150 km on country roads parallel to the Cauvery or one of her tributaries, it was almost impossible to sight the river along any of the villages.
■ Our first glimpse of the river was at Shivanasamudra, a depressing sight as the mighty Gaganachukki and Barachukki falls have been reduced to small trickles.