Shivamogga: Planting trees amid water crisis is 'illogical', says environmentalist

Amidst prevailing water crisis in Shivamogga district, environmentalists in the area termed the district forest administration's action of planting one lakh saplings on the occasion of World Environment day 'illogical' as the monsoon is delayed in the state.

Ajay Kumar Sharma, an environmentalist, told ANI, "Monsoon is delayed and we are already facing acute drinking water issues in the area. As we didn't get sufficient pre-monsoon showers, it is very illogical to plant saplings at this point."

"They don't have any water tankers of their own. Even in case of emergency, they have to rely on other sources to get a few tankers of water. When people are having severe drinking water issues in the district, how is the administration going to water these saplings?" questioned Sharma.

He further said, "It is not the right time to plant trees when there's no rain because these saplings need enough water to nourish. Though Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru districts get the highest rainfall, it is the other way around this year. Instead of planting these saplings now, the administration should have planted it in July, when the monsoon hits the Western Ghats."

Several districts of the state have been officially declared as drought-affected.

Reportedly, the combined live storage in all four reservoirs of the Cauvery basin -- Krishnaraja Sagar, Kabini, Hemavathi and Harangi -- is 13.93 tmcft as against their full live storage capacity of 104.55 tmcft.

To combat the crisis, the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA) has also ordered Karnataka to release 9.19 tmcft of water for June from the Biligundlu reservoir on the interstate border to Mettur Dam in Tamil Nadu.