The minister said the committee will consist of ministers from water resource, revenue and BWSSB. "We will form the committee once the Chief Minister returns from his China visit. We will also follow up on the notice issued to 162 industries, which let out industrial waste into the river. If they don’t find an alternative means of disposing off the waste by September 30, we will take action against them," he said.
Memorandum
Yelahanka MLA S R Vishwanath, who led a walk from Nandi Hills to the Arkavati river, along with Dasarahalli MLA Muniraju and Managing Director of Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited M A Sadiq, gave a memorandum to the Minister.
The memorandum stated that though the government had issued a notification in 2003 to protect Arkavati river, no concrete measure has been taken in this direction. They also poured water collected from Nandi Hills into the Arakavati river, as a symbolic gesture.
Interestingly, Water Resource minister Basavraj Bommai, who will be part of the Committee, stayed away from the event. Meanwhile, Sadiq said that a preliminary report will be submitted to the Government in 15 days. "The report will find out the source of the river and the cause of depletion of water level in Thippagondanahalli reservoir. It will identify the course of the river and track down encroachments. We are also trying to compile the rainfall data for the last 33 years,” he said. MP Ananth Kumar mentioned that the water level in the TG Halli Dam should reach its full capacity in the next three years.