CHANNAPATNA: THE toy town Channapatna has water aplenty but not a drop is fit to drink. The reason? Sewage of the entire town is flowing into the lakes, resulting in the death of the water bodies, as there is no Underground Drainage (UGD).
Shettahalli Lake, a major water body which is just backside the Tahsildar’s office in Channapatna town, is filled with filthy water, weeds and silt. People also dump debris and garbage into the lake and have encroached upon portions of the lake.
Kudlur Lake, spread over around 850 acres, is the lifeline of the farming community where paddy, coconut, mulberry, babycorn, ragi are the major crops. It, too, is blighted by sewage.
The stormwater drains of the city and adjoining areas like Chikkamaluru have become sewage drains, poisoning the lakes and the groundwater.
Prakash, a local farmer, said that earlier they used to use the lake water for agriculture, washing clothes and utensils, besides taking bath and swimming regularly. Now, the water is contaminated.
Pointing out that about 20 percent of the lake has been encroached by those lands adjoining the backwaters of the lake, a resident of Kudlur said that the town’s sewage is a major problem and many involved in poultry farms and chicken stalls dump the waste into the lake during nights.
Also, many are engaged in fishery harvesting in the lake without paying royalty to the local grama panchayat or to the government, as no guidelines are issued by the government for awarding tenders. The gate, which was constructed to make way to flow of excess water after the lake filled, has been reduced twice by those encroaching on the lake in the backwaters, and bushes have grown on the tank bund making it difficult even to walk, he alleged, without wishing to be identified.
The lakes in Hodikehosahalli and Mogalli, situated downstream of Kudlur Lake, too, are polluted as excess water from Kudlur Lake flows through them. Same is the fate of Ramammana Lake and Sunnaghatta Lake.
The Kanva river, a major tributary of the Cauvery, is also polluted. The silk reeling and twisting industries are releasing effluents into the open drains, which are contaminating the lakes.
The officials of Channapatna Town Municipality and Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board told TNIE that about 80 km of UGD network was done in 2007. However, for various reasons, including shortage of funds, the network is not completed.
“If we take into account the new areas added to the town, the town still has 60 km of UGD to be done. We think that the earlier 80 km long UGD work done is useful even now. Even if we do it, it will be useless without a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP). Rs 94 crore were set aside in 2023 for the UGD. Around 2.5 acre land is identified near Mangalavarpet for the STP, and the final award has to be passed. If this is completed, the UGD work can be taken up,” the officials said.
Speaking to TNIE, Ramanagara district in-charge minister Ramalinga Reddy said the issue would be discussed at the meeting of the Karnataka Development Programme on May 17 and measures would be taken to save the water bodies.