No water diversion to Bengaluru South district, says MLA Ranganath after protest over link canal

Indian Express

2 days ago

A link canal project that aims to supply water from the Hemavathi dam to Kunigal in Karnataka's Tumakuru district, around 70 km from Bengaluru, is at the centre of a controversy following a massive protest attended by leaders of the Opposition BJP and JD(S) on Saturday.
Both parties have alleged that the project would divert water from the Tumakuru to Bengaluru South district –formerly Ramanagara district — Congress leaders have maintained that the canal would benefit only Kunigal taluk.
On Sunday, Kunigal MLA Dr HD Ranganath of the Congress released a statement accusing the Opposition ranks of misleading people by claiming that the water will be diverted to Magadi and Ramanagar, which are part of Bengaluru South district, using the canal.
'The link canal project is restricted to Kunigal alone,' he said, adding that the canal was designed to supply 388 cusecs of water for the benefit of farmers in Kunigal. Tumakuru district gets 49 per cent water share of Hemavathi. But Kunigal taluk, where the fight for Hemavathi water started, is yet to get the 3.01 TMC water,' he said, adding that the link canal, where work started in 2018, would benefit the people of Kunigal taluk.
The MLA, who is a relative of Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, accused some 'vested interests' of misleading the people and urged Tumakuru residents not to oppose the link canal project.
The protest held at the project site at Nitturu in Gubbi taluk, Tumakuru district, was attended by BJP MLAs Suresh Gowda and Jyothi Ganesh, and JD(S) MLA MT Krishnappa, along with representatives of farmer organisations and seers.
The Bengaluru-Honnavar highway was blocked by protesters who demanded the government immediately scrap the project. The demonstration had taken place despite the district administration clamping prohibitory orders at the project site. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah later held a meeting with Home Minister G Parameshwara – who is district in-charge minister for Tumakuru, over the incident and asked him to resolve the issue. Parameshwara told reporters on Saturday that the works were started based on a report submitted by a technical committee formed to look into the project.
'The works were started at a cost of Rs 1,500 crore. When it began, the BJP started opposing it, after which the DyCM held multiple meetings with MPs and MLAs of the region. They had demanded that a technical committee be formed. The project began once the technical committee cleared it,' he said, adding that the protests by BJP were politically motivated.
Shivakumar, who also holds the water resources portfolio, doubled down saying that the government would go ahead with the project. 'Express canal link works are 40 per cent complete. The question of stopping the project does not arise,' he said.
The Hemavathi reservoir in Hassan district provides irrigation to Hassan and Tumakuru districts.