CHITRADURGA: Popular as the only dam in drought-prone Chitradurga district, Vani Vilas Sagar is a century old. Geleyara Balaga in Chitradurga, will celebrate the centenary of the dam today.
Built across river Vedavathi at Mari Kanive, this reservoir, commonly known as VV Sagar Dam, irrigates 30,000 acres, of which 12,135 hectares comes under horticulture crops. It is 1,330 feet long, 150 feet wide and 145 feet high.
B Kantharaj, president of Geleyara Balaga told Express that people from all walks of life, irrespective of their political alignments, will visit VV Sagar and perform pooja today. A massive programme has also been arranged at Old Middle School grounds in the city.
He remembered the services of late chief minister S Nijalingappa, who in 1968 got loans from various institutions and laid water lines to Chitradurga. People who use the water daily from this dam have shown no concern, which is shocking, he regretted.
Leader of the opposition in the Assembly Siddaramaiah, former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy and elected representatives of the district will also be present.
Ambitious project
The dam was constructed by a team of engineers led by Tara Chand Dalal on the order of the Maharaja of Mysore Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV.
This ambitious project was initiated by the Diwan of the erstwhile Mysore state Sir Mirza Ismail in 1898. He personally visited the district and found the need for a reservoir in the droughtprone area.
Nearly after nine years, the dam was completed in 1907, and named after Krishnaraja Wadiyar's younger daughter Vani Vilasamma.
Filled only once
The largest reservoir in the district has never been filled completely. Inadequate and erratic rainfall over the years means that the dam, built 104 years ago, has not been full for a long time.
According to the locals and historians, the dam with a a storage capacity of 30 tmc was filled to its maximum in 1933.
After that the level has crossed 100 feet but never touched the 145foot mark. This year due to incessant rains, the dam has filled up to 107 feet.
With its birth at Baba Budangiri, river Vedavathi flows across Kadur, Birur and enters Chitradurga district in Hosadurga taluk.
The dam has helped local farmers in Hiriyur taluk take up waterintensive crops such as coconut, arecanut, paddy, sugarcane and plantation crops. Extensive encroachment and unabated sand mining has silted the dam leading to a depletion in its storage capacity.