Objection to Kalasa work: Goa in SC, K’taka locals up in arms

Keri: With Karnataka govt issuing land acquisition notices for the Kalasa-Bhandura project, the affected farmers have raised their objections to the works. On Wednesday, a meeting was held by these farmers, concerned villagers, and religious and political leaders from Belagavi district in Khanapur.Through its petition in the Supreme Court, Goa govt is fighting against Karnataka’s proposed diversion of water, which will affect the flow of water to Goa through the Mhadei river.As for the meeting on Wednesday, the attendees expressed strong opposition to the proposed project. They said the river’s catchment area, its tributaries, the location of the proposed dams, associated electric cabling, canals, and pipelines fall within the Category I eco-sensitive zone of the Western Ghats, Khanapur. The project would cause irreversible damage to the green cover, they said.The farmers and villagers have submitted a memorandum to the tehsildar of Khanapur taluka expressing apprehensions over the implementation of Kalasa, Haltara, and Bhandura damming and diversion schemes of Karnataka govt.They opposed govt’s move of sending notices to farmers of Asoga, Nerse, Manturga, Rumewadi, and Karambal for land acquisition.The locals said that the forest destruction and the fragmentation caused by the proposed project will have far-reaching adverse effects on the local microclimate, environment, and rainfall leading to an acute shortage of water in the Mhadei-Mahaprabha catchment areas.Sharada Gopal, an activist from Dharwad, said that under the guise of fulfilling the drinking water needs, Karnataka govt is actually diverting the Mhadei water to fulfil the demand of industrial and urban areas.Another activist, Nitin Dhond, said, “We are opposing the projects as govt intends to divert all Kalasa-Bhandura nullahs away from 700sqkm areas of Bhimgad and Mhadei wildlife sanctuaries, reserve forests, and eco-sensitive zones, further aggravating water problems of the region.”