BAGALKOT: A woman doctor-turned-environmentalist from Ramdurga is on a crusade spanning 17 years, to protect the Malaprabha river. Dr Poornima Gouroji has been working tirelessly to get encroachments over the river cleared and make it silt-free. She aims at developing the Malaprabha on the lines of Sabarmati. In 2003, she had filed a PIL in the Karnataka High Court, seeking potable water for Ramdurga town and the rejuvenation of the Malaprabha, as she found hundreds of people falling sick after drinking contaminated water.
Accepting the case in the High Court, Justice Nagendra Kumar Jain had directed the State Government to rejuvenate the river and provide clean drinking water to the town. The government also gave an undertaking that it would clean up the river. Thanks to her efforts, within a year, the government set up a water purification plant at about Rs 5 crore in Ramdurga.
On the orders of the court, rejuvenation work of the river on the town’s outskirts was also carried out at a cost of Rs 7 crore in the first phase. However, the authorities failed to complete the work, which was discontinued the same year, after covering a mere 7 km, against the required 172 km. “Though the authorities managed to carry out cleaning over only 7 km, it was not up to the mark. I filed a complaint with the Lokayukta in 2017,” Dr Poornima told TNIE.
The Lokayukta served notices to the implementation authority and sought a report on river encroachment from the Naviluteertha Dam to Kudalasangama from the Irrigation Department, which then sought the same from the Regional Commissioner of Belagavi. The latter then directed the DCs of Gadag, Belagavi and Bagalkot to submit the survey report. According to sources, “The Regional Commissioner has submitted a report to the Lokayukta detailing that the respective district administrations failed to submit the survey report recently.”
“Hundreds of acres of river land have been illegally encroached upon. The state government has estimated to spend Rs 1 crore per km for the same work. If they feel burdened, they can seek the Centre’s help,” Dr Poornima said.She had also written to the Prime Minister’s Office and former CM Siddaramaiah. Though no developments have taken place in the last 15 years, a ray of hope in the form of Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa himself assuring of necessary steps to clear the encroachment, is some reason to smile.