: Pratapchandra Shetty, MLC, said on Saturday water should be released to the canals of the Varahi Irrigation Project during the summer months so that it would benefit farmers.
He was speaking at a public meeting organized by the Udupi Zilla Raitha Sangha at the Satyagraha Circle here.
Mr. Shetty said no water was being released for the last 15 days. This meant the project was not benefiting farmers, when they needed it the most. Instead, the water of the Varahi River was being diverted to power projects run by some contractors in the same region.
“This is wrong. The first preference should be given to supplying water to farmers. After their needs have been met, it could be given to the contractors running power plants,” he said.
Mr. Shetty said it was after 36 years of struggle that the first phase works of the Varahi Irrigation Project completed last year at a cost of Rs. 600 crore and was inaugurated on May 4, 2015. The Varahi water reached upto 48 kilometres.
As per the original plan, the Right Bank Canal of the Varahi Irrigation Project should provide irrigation to 4,920 acres, while the Left Bank Canal should provide irrigation to 18,626 acres. The Varahi Lift Irrigation Project had to provide irrigation to 6,730 acres of land.
But in the last one year, the progress of the Varahi Irrigation Project was progressing at a snail’s pace. “The time has come to all the farmers of the region to unite and demand speedy implementation of the irrigation project,” he said.
There was demand for “kumki” land rights to be transferred to farmers so that they could use it for grazing and other purposes. But the farmers too should remember that once they got the “kumki” rights, those lands had to be used for agriculture and allied purposes. It was also necessary to rejuvenate lakes and ponds in the district to increase the groundwater table, Mr. Shetty said.
Umesh Shetty, leader of the Sangha, said that provision of the Varahi water to the farmers should be given priority by the government. The farmers of this region had waited for 36 years for the Varahi water, he said.
