BENGALURU: Over a hundred people holding placards staged a protest at Town Hall against the state government's plan of drawing water from Linganamakki to Bengaluru. The protest supported the Shivamogga shut down on Wednesday called by Shivamogga Nadi Ullisi Horatta Okkutta. Members from various organisations, including United Conservation Movement, Malnad Wildlife and Cultural Forum, Mamma Honnavara, Janapaksha, Grama Seva Sangha, Yuva Netaravaru, Kannada Manusagalu and Malnad Jagruthi Vedika joined hands in the protest. Also dwellers and farmers from Hossanagara, Uttara Kannada, Teerthahalli, Shikaripura, Sagara, Soraba, Shivamogga, Koppa and Sringeri took part in the protest.
The dwellers and agitators questioned the government on its decision of drawing water from Linganamakki. They said that when the government has declared Hossanagara and Sagar as a drought-hit area, then how can the government thinking of constructing a dam in Linganamakki. The people there have the first right on the water as they are in the catchment area.
They pointed that Madhav Gadgil and Kasturirangan in their reports in Western Ghats have stated in their reports that Hossanagara, Sagara and surrounding areas are eco-sensitive zones. This means that they cannot be disturbed.
Sahadev, Okkutta member told The New Indian Express that around 150 villages near the dam site are already procuring water through water tankers. “The government has said that water going to Arabian Sea is waste and is being diverted for Bengaluru. But that is far from reality.”