Activists in Karnataka's Shivamogga protest plan to divert water from Sharavathi river to Bengaluru

Shivamogga: Citizens and various environmental groups in Shivamogga district on Thursday staged a protest against the Karnataka government’s proposed plan to take water from Sharavathi River to Bengaluru. The protestors submitted a memorandum to Shivamogga Deputy Commissioner (DC) K A Dayananda expressing their discontent over the government’s proposal. [caption id=“attachment_6893551” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Citizens and environmentalists protest in Karnataka’s Shivamogga. ANI[/caption] Gouri Shankar, a retired engineer, told ANI, “The people in Bangalore are playing politics over the water of Sharavathi River. The people staying here are already facing acute water crisis as all the water resources in the Malanad area and the Western Ghats have dried up.” “If the government is planning to take water from the river at this moment, the farmers and areca nut growers in the area are going to be in great trouble. Thousands of acres of areca nut plantation fields have already been hit due to the water shortage in the region,” he added. Further, he said, “We are protesting to safeguard the river and its water should only be utilized by the people in the Malanad area.” Gurumurthy, an activist of Dalit Sangharsh Samiti, alleged that the proposed project is unscientific and with these anti-environment projects, the government is causing more damage to the Western Ghats. Meanwhile, Umapathy, a farmer and an activist, said, “Many have joined hands to protest against the government’s plan. The proposal is very insensitive to nature.” In addition, Sharavathi Nadi Ulisi Okkuta had organised various meeting at the village level in the district to oppose the government’s plan. Earlier this week, the Karnataka government had proposed a project that aims to provide drinking water to the citizens of Bengaluru from Linganamakki reservoir and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara had directed officials to prepare a DPR (detailed project report) on bringing water from the reservoir.