Save Mahadayi Movement members decide to create awareness on dangers of projects
Members of the Save Mahadayi Movement have decided to create awareness among the public about the dangers posed by the various Mayadayi basin projects to the Western Ghats.
At a public meeting in Belagavi on Saturday, leaders of various organisations vowed to strive unitedly under the umbrella of Save Mahadayi Movement.
Activists agreed to work together in creating awareness among stakeholders, urban dwellers and among young men and women.
During the meeting, environmentalists of the district vowed to preserve the Western Ghats which have one of the greatest plant diversity in the world.
They decided to create public awareness and create a public movement in the coming days.
Veteran activist Dilip Kamath said that the Western Ghats, which spread from Gujarat to Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, are one of the most eco-sensitive forests in the world and protecting and preserving them is necessary.
'I have been actively participating in the struggle to save the Western Ghats for the last 30 years. From time to time, people have been organized in the foothills of the Western Ghats to create awareness and create public movements to save the Sahyadri Hills,' he said.
'Some leaders in government are misleading the people by giving them false information in the name of development,' Mr. Kamat said.
'Efforts are being made to divert the Mahadayi river to the Malaprabha which is unscientific. This project is being deliberately and wrongly named a drinking water project for the cities of Hubballi and Dharwad and villages en route. Over three decades ago, we opposed the Mahadayi basin projects. Now, the same projects are being rebranded as Kalasa-Banduri Nala Projects. But these will destroy the Western Ghats that have immense biodiversity and diverse forests. We all need to join hands with the people and protect this rare plant wealth for the next generation,' he said.
He said that the difference between the present agitation and the older ones is that farmers are actively engaged in today's protests. They are the real stakeholders in these projects. Attempts to take over farmland for the Banduri Nala project and the diversion of water from Hidkal to Dharwad industrial area are being opposed by local farmers. This is an encouraging development, Mr. Kamat said.
'The Naviluthirtha Reservoir that impounds Malaprabha river waters was built 35 years ago. It was aimed at providing drinking water to the people. But now it has become a major irrigation project to supply water to sugarcane crops in North Karnataka. But since the reservoir was built, it has been filled only four times. I have no doubt that water diverted from the Mahadayi will also be used for irrigation,' Mr. Kamat said.
He said that the various river-linking projects being promoted by some leaders are unscientific and against the rules of nature.
Environmentalist Nitin Dhond said that there is an immediate need to create awareness among the general public about the potential dangers posed by the Mahadayi basin projects to the Western Ghats.
'City dwellers like us tend to think that the Mahadayi basin projects are issues faced by rural farmers and not us. But we should all realise that they will affect all of us. We should study the projects and listen to the various scholars who studied these projects to realise the complete implications of those projects,' he said.
Captain Dhond cited from various studies, including The Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and IIT Mumbai.
He said that various such studies have listed various dangers to the Western Ghats. All these reports are available in the public domain. 'We should study them and create awareness among the general public, especially young men and women,' he said.
He said that the government is planning to build barrages without gates to stop water from the Kalasa, Banduri and Haltara streams from entering the Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary.
'This will not only lead to deforestation of the Khanapur region but also lead to desertification of North Karnataka,' he said.
Activists Nyla Coelho, Amrut Charantimath, Lingaraj Jagajampi and others spoke.
Some young people raised questions about the projects and offered to serve as volunteers.
Environmentalists Sameer Majli, Nirmal Kulkarni, Sudesh Hudali, Sangeetha Patil, Nita Potdar and others were present.
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