The villagers, who are affected by the Upper Bhadra Project have urged the government to supply water to 16 lakes of Tarikere taluk from Bhadra reservoir.
Shivanna, a farmer leader of Kallushettihalli, said most of the lakes, including the Hosakere, are not yet full even in rainy season.
“We have no hopes that the rainwater will fill the lakes. We have to struggle to get water for even drinking. The government should immediately take steps to supply water to the lakes,” he said.
Engineer Vikas, who supervised the lake works, said, “Hosakere near Kallushettihalli is spread across 21 acres of land and it can store 10.54 mcft of water. The lake work is almost complete and there are no problems to supply water to the lake.”
Former legislator S M Nagaraj said, “I had met water resources minister M B Patil and spoken to him when the farmers staged a demonstration seeking water for Hosakere. Later, the minister had issued an order to supply water through lift irrigation. The MLAs should protect the interest of the people, irrespective of the party which forms the government. The present MLA should exert pressure on the Water Resources Department and the government to supply water to the lake.”
Farmers’ leader and Irrigation Department retired engineer Rajkumar said, “The government has reserved 0.084 tmcft water in Ubrani-Amruthatpura Lift Irrigation Project to supply water to the lakes. The engineers
should implement this effectively.”
Farmers of the region Eerannaiah, Vasanth, Somashekhar, Kallesh, Gireesh and Kumar said they have staged several protests urging the government to supply water to the 16 lakes. It is unfortunate that the government officials are delaying the supply of water to the lakes despite a government order. If they fail in this task, the protest will be intensified, they warned.
The farmers have also urged the MLA to help those who have lost land for the projects aimed at supplying drinking water to other districts.
The officials should not delay further, but should immediately supply water to the lakes, they said.