An environmental outfit today urged the Karnataka government to set up a Coastal Water Conservation Authority and draw up permanent drinking water and irrigation project plans for the coastal region.
The authority should have the backing of the Legislature and comprise experts in civil engineering, general public and representatives from local bodies of the region, besides government representatives, V V Bhat, member of 'Nethravathi Rakshana Samyukta Samiti' (Nethravati river protection council) told reporters here.
Through the authority, people in the coastal region should be able to claim their rights over rivers and other water bodies in their region to meet various demands, he said.
He said that the World Water Report had stressed the need to preserve water resources.
"If more dams or check dams come up on the Nethravati, it will result in strong protests," he said.
Former professor of Applied Hydrology with National Institute of Technology, Karnataka, S G Mayya, who has been voicing concern over the project for years, said people in the coastal region were not averse to sharing the water, but completely opposed to destruction of water sources by undertaking projects on the eco-sensitive Western Ghats.
"The case is presently in the National Green Tribunal, and if the verdict is not in our favour we will approach the Supreme Court," Mayya said.
Mooting the possibility of forming a separate Tulunadu state, Mayya said though people of Dakshina Kannada district had been demanding a water tribunal to solve issues involving the Yettinahole project, it might not be practical for the state government to do that.
"Hence we may demand a separate Tulunadu state, as once a separate state is created, we may get an inter-state tribunal," he said.
"The amount of water stolen is 3.5 TMC which is generally
sufficient for irrigation of sugarcane crops in over 7,000 acres. Sugarcane is a water intense crop and it is not largely cultivated in Aurangabad," an expert on water management told
