Yettinahole Project

Yettinahole project is based on the report submitted by committee headed by Dr. G. S. Paramashivaiah. This project involves construction of eight small dams, two on Yettinahole, two on Kadumane hole, one on Kari hole, one on hongada hole and two more on its tributaries. From these storage dams, the water is pumped to 3 delivery chambers. From these chambers water is again lifted to Haravanahalli reservoir near Sakaleshpur. From here water flows downward through gravity towards Tumkur. Near Devarayana Durga a reservoir is constructed for storage of water. From here the water is channeled through the rivers of Nandidurg. This project mainly provides drinking water for Hasan, Tumkur, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bangalore Rural and Ramanagar districts. This entire project stated that there is no adverse effect on environment. There is no submergence of land and there is no need of rehabilitation of people.  Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Project, one of the flagship projects of Krishna Neeravari Nigam Ltd. (KNNL). To meet the drinking water requirement of people in these districts, where the groundwater levels have hit the all-time low, the project proposes to lift 24.01 tmcft of water from Yettinahole, a west-flowing stream, near Sakleshpur in Hassan district and transport it through hardened steel pipeline and open canal running to distance of 274 km. The Karnataka government proposes to spend Rs. 12,931 crore on the project which is expected to provide a permanent solution to drinking water shortage in the six districts. Besides this, 527 tanks will be filled using 8.96 tmcft of water in these district so as to help recharge groundwater. In Kolar, Tumakuru, Chickballapur, and Bengaluru Rural, groundwater levels have dipped alarmingly to 1,000 to 1,400 feet and groundwater sources here are contaminated by fluoride, nitrate, and harmful salts.

Nethravathi is Lifeline of Mangalore and Dakshina kannnada District .She starts at  Bangrabalige valley, Yelaneeru in Kudermukh in Chikkamangalru District  of Karnataka, India flows West   and  reaches Arabian Sea  .It is used for  agriculture and  cultivation  by the  farmers of Hassan, Mangalore and Dakshina Kannada Districts to cultivate 3.5  lakh Hectares of Land. It is also used to provide drinking water for the people of Mangalore and Daskina Kannada District. Apart from above two things it is also used for fish cultivation and for fishing which is another prime occupation of people of Mangalore.

But the environmental impacts and controversies surrounding the Project are huge. Some of them are:

• Ecological imbalance because of felling thousands of trees from dense forests of western ghats.
• Alteration of river course results in habitat fragmentation.
• It may dry the upper course of Gundia river and impacts the life of people living in the area.
• Water logging and increased salinity near the storage area.
• The diversion will decrease the water flowing into the Arabian sea and this could increase the salinity of the Netravati river which is considered the lifeline of Dakshina Kannada district. Activists are asking the government for conducting Environmental Impact Assessment.
• Already felling of trees started in the project area but the environmental activists approached National Green Tribunal(NGT). As per the reports NGT team will inspect the project site and submits the report.