BELAGAVI: The relentless efforts made by the state government, farmers and various organisations from different parts of north Karnataka for the implementation of the Kalasa-Banduri project has finally paid off as the Centre gave its approval for the project, on Thursday.
A revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project was submitted by the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government to the Centre which has been cleared by the Central Water Commission (CWC), allowing Karnataka to avail its share of 3.9 TMC water from the Mahadayi river under the project.
The project aims to improve the drinking water supply to four districts -- Belagavi, Bagalkot, Dharwad and Gadag. It paves the way for building two tributaries of the Mahadayi river across Kalasa and Banduri to divert water to the Malaprabha river.
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said his government overcame several challenges before getting the revised DPR cleared. He said, “It is the victory of the 30-year-long struggle of the farmers of north Karnataka. I will invite tenders and start the work on the project at the earliest,’’ he added.
Speaking in the Assembly, Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol credited Bommai with the approval of the project. Recalling the turn of events, Bommai told the media in Belagavi that the project was initiated in 1988 when his father S R Bommai was the chief minister.
‘8 environmental cases filed to halt project’
Although the then chief minister of Goa had an agreement with Karnataka to get the project implemented, the subsequent governments which came to power in Goa opposed it. A large number of farmers who staged protests demanding its implementation were lathi-charged on several occasions, he said, adding that a long padayatra was also taken out.
When the Goa government moved the court opposing the project, a tribunal was formed. When the tribunal ordered the Congress-led Karnataka government not to divert water from Kalasa Nala, the government filed an affidavit before the tribunal declaring that it would build a wall to the interlinking canal. “Even today, the wall is still intact and that has been the achievement of their (Congress) government. In entire India, there is no instance of a wall being built for any of the major projects except for the one built here by the Congress government.
Now, we got all the hurdles cleared and got the revised DPR cleared by the Centre,’’ he said. He added that eight environmental cases were filed to halt the project but the state government won all of them. Of the total allocation of 13.42 TMC of Mahadayi water, 2.18 TMC and 1.72 TMC of Mahadayi water were allocated under the Bhandura dam project and Kalasa dam project respectively by the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal in 2018.
However, these allocations are made subject to the fresh preparation of Detailed Project Reports (to be prepared as directed by the Tribunal) and on obtaining the applicable clearances from the Union government under the Forest Conservation Act of 1981, Environment Protection Act of 1985, said noted Supreme Court advocate Mohan Katarki, who is also the state’s counsel on interstate water sharing projects. Karnataka submitted its DPR for both Banduri and Kalasa in June 2022 to the Central Water Commission (CWC).