The link with a hole

At a time when river networking is being touted as a panacea for the entire country's water woes, the tide of opinion in Karnataka is turning against the concept. The dissent is moored to a proposed local scheme to divert Nethravathi river

Published on:

30 Apr 2003, 12:00 am

Ins and outs

Grandiose dimensions The scope of the Nethravathi river diversion project
Schemes	Length of garland canals (in km)	Length of service canals (in km)	Total catchment area (in square km)	Water to be diverted (in thousand million cubic feet)	Number of reservoirs
East scheme	785	1217	846	179	27
Northeast scheme	580	1020	514	85	11
Total	1365	2237	1360	264	38
Source: G.S. Paramasivaiya 2002, Technical note on the Nethravathi River Water Diversion Scheme, Irrigation department, Bangalore, October, p 9 and 13

The project is divided into the eastern and northeastern schemes. As per the former, the Nethravathi is to be linked with Hemavathi river in the Cauvery basin. In the latter, it would be connected with Tunga and Bhadra rivers in the Tungabhadra basin.

The garland canals would collect water from the ridges, transferring it by gravity to the command areas with the help of service canals.

The interim feasibility and technical reports assume that 264 tmc of water, out of a total of 450 tmc that drains into the Arabian Sea, can be diverted from the Western Ghats to the eastern border of the state. Interestingly, the committee has found this technique "ingenious" since it would entail providing water to parched areas rather than letting it flow into the sea.

The main objectives of the scheme as outlined in the two preliminary reports are:

To supply drinking water to 2.5 million people residing in central Karnataka and Bangalore Urban district.

To recharge water tables in drought-affected districts of the state.

To provide water to 12,000 mini irrigation tanks in the command areas of the state.
Does it hold water? The feasibility report is premised on "some" site inspections, and "four" committee meetings which "unanimously" gave the green light to the eastern and north-eastern schemes. This outright endorsement raises questions about the depth of the study.

quantity inadequate?

against newton's law?

groundwork not done?

experts excluded?

environmentally unsound?

financially unviable?

dte

Meandering course
The Karnataka government's vacillation on the Nethravathi River diversion scheme is linked to the larger water politics of the state. When Tamil Nadu suggested during a Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal hearing in 2001-2002 that Karnataka should tap westward flowing rivers to meet its increasing water demand, the state baulked at the idea. In fact, Karnataka specifically stated that the Nethravathi scheme was full of engineering and environmental flaws.

It was later forced to consider the proposal favourably due to an acute drinking water shortage in a number of eastern districts. This shift in stance was deeply resented by farmers of Dakshina Kannada where Nethravathi river irrigates 1.42 lakh ha of fertile land. Now if Karnataka plumps for the Nethravathi scheme, its Cauvery campaign may suffer a serious setback. Not only will the state government face the tribunal's ire over the volte-face, it may actually be required to open the sluice gates wider in view of the additional water generated by the project.

To be sure, the diversion of westward flowing rivers has been discussed over a period by various bodies such as the National Water Development Agency, Water Resources Development Organisation (wrdo) and National Water Commission (nwc). The wrdo had mooted the linking of smaller rivers to divert 40-50 tmc of water to the Tungabhadra and Cauvery basins. In 1999, the nwc suggested that Almatti and Pennar rivers be connected by gravity. The plan came a cropper because Almatti river remains an issue of dispute between Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. "Though these are smaller projects, yet they too will spawn environmental and engineering problems," opines Rao.

S Vishwanath, a rainwater harvesting expert, says: "The biggest shortcoming of this project is that it doesn't deal with demand management at all." He believes that managing water resources locally by adopting water harvesting and artificial recharge methods may solve the problem to some extent. Rao recommends intensive watershed management as the "only way for districts like Kolar and Bellary".

Last heard, the Karnataka government had not abandoned the Nethravathi River Water Diversion Scheme. It is hoped that the final feasibility report presents a realistic picture and compels decision-makers to jettison the project.