The Hidkal dam over the Ghataprabha supplies drinking water to Belagavi and areas in Hukkeri taluk.
| Photo Credit: P.K. Badiger
Kannada organisations have strongly opposed the plans of the State government to divert water from the Hidkal dam to the industries of Dharwad district.
The president of the Central Committee of Kannada Associations and member of the Karnataka Border Area Development Authority Ashok Chandaragi has written a letter to the government calling the plan an injustice to the dry villages of Belagavi. He said that this will affect water supply to Belagavi city and areas in Hukkeri taluk that depend on Hidkal dam for drinking water.
“We have seen media reports that the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board is laying pipelines to draw over 45 million litres of Ghataprabha river water per day from the Raja Lakhamagouda reservoir in Hidkal, to supply to industrial units in Dharwad district. This is unscientific and unjustified. The twin cities of Hubballi-Dharwad are already drawing drinking water from the Naviluteertha dam over the Malaprabha. The two cities are expanding without proper urban development planning. Their needs will suck Belagavi’s reservoirs dry,” the committee said.
‘Find local water sources’
“The State government should explain the logic behind this. Why can the State government not find local water sources for the industries there? Why can’t the industries be shifted to areas with enough water, like Belagavi? Also, what is the need to pump water from so far when there are water sources like Neerasagar and Kelageri near Hubballi and Dharwad,” the letter sought to know.
“We do not understand how the Ghataprabha waters can serve Dharwad that is 125 km from the dam, while Belagavi which is 50 km away, has some dry pockets. Belagavi district suffers from water scarcity during summer months. Even Belagavi city, that gets water once every week during summer. Drawing heavy amounts of water from Hidkal will reduce the average impounded quantum in Hidkal dam and making it an unreliable source of water for Belagavi. The State government should not take unilateral decisions like diverting water from one river water basin to another, between two districts. It should seek the permissions from the concerned Irrigation consultative committees and district administrations, that are custodians of the impounded water. We believe this has not been done. That is why we condemn this. If the State government goes ahead with the pipeline work, we will stage a protest,” Mr. Chandaragi said.
Lacking foresight
He criticised politicians from Belagavi for lacking foresight, while those from Dharwad were clever enough to leverage such opportunities.
Mr. Chandaragi demanded that Jagadish Shettar, Lok Sabha member from Belagavi and former CM, put pressure on the State government to stop this project. He said he would appeal to the Belagavi City Corporation to pass a resolution against this.
While Irrigation Department officials say it is only at the level of a proposal before the State government, the KIADB officials say the work of laying pipelines has begun.
Nikhil Katti, MLA and Chairman of the Irrigation Consultative Committee, was not available for comment. However, department officials in Hukkeri maintain that drawing water from Hidkal to Dharwad was only at the stage of a proposal as of now. They clarified that this issue was not on the agenda during recent ICC meetings.
A senior engineer from the Irrigation Department, however, said that this would not have any negative impact. “The Full Reservoir Level of the Ghataprabha dam is 51 tmcft. At full levels, it can irrigate over 3.1 lakh hectares of land in Belagavi and Bagalkot districts. If we divert some water from Hidkal to Dharwad, we could store more water from Krishna river and seek higher utility. Now during monsoon months, we are forced to stop impounding water in Hidkal and the water flows to Almatti, unutilised. Higher local usage will lead to higher transactions and higher chances of filling the dam repeatedly,” an engineer said.
‘No need for worry’
Mohan Katarki, senior counsel in the Supreme Court who has represented Karnataka in the Krishna basin dispute, said there was no need for worry. He believes such utilisation is within the allotted water quantum for the Krishna basin.
He said, however, that a permanent solution would be interlinking of rivers in North West Karnataka. “It is necessary to transfer water by lifting from the Krishna river to the Ghataprabha and Malaprabha rivers. Both Ghataprabha and Malaprabha are deficit sub-basins of Krishna. An interlinking scheme will benefit Hidkal dam, Belgavi drinking water, Malaprabha sub-basin area and Hubballi-Dharwad’s industrial needs. Hence, it’s necessary to augment both sub-basins by transferring water from the main Krishna river out of the Karnataka’s share of 303 including surplus 130 tmcft allocated by second Krishna water dispute tribunal. That would result in a saving of about 25 tmcft in Krishna by transferring it to Ghataprabha and Malaprabha rivers,” he said.
Published – January 17, 2025 09:35 pm IST
