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Karnataka polls: Political slugfest over Mahadayi intensifies
Both BJP, Congress have claimed to complete the pending projects in their manifestos
Karwar: It is business as usual at Kankumbi, the first village one encounters when traversing across what is the shortest route between Belagavi and Goa, as travellers make a mid-journey stop having just completed the snaky, nauseating, 20-kilometre climb that takes you up 2,600 feet.
Unknown to most travellers, running nearly 80 metres under their feet are two massive canals built between 2006 and 2011 by Karnataka – illegally, according to those in Goa – to divert water from the Kalasa and Banduri streams, tributaries of the west flowing Mahadayi river, in the neighbouring Jamboti village, to the east flowing Malaprabha river.
The two rivers, that begin life literally next to each other close to the Goa border in north Karnataka, are now the subject of a battle not just between the Goa and Karnataka governments but also between political parties jostling to win the upcoming Karnataka elections. While the Mahadayi enters Goa (known as Mhadei there) and meets the Arabian Sea as a free flowing, almost unhindered river (barring a few check dams), the Malaprabha traverses some of the most arid parts of north Karnataka, that ironically choose to grow sugarcane, before meeting the Krishna river at Gulbarga in Karnataka. The two rivers are an agricultural lifeline for the poorer northern parts of the state.
On Monday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in its manifesto, promised to complete all pending irrigation projects like the Upper Bhadra, Upper Krishna and Kalasa Banduri projects and all major irrigation projects in a time bound manner. Not to be outdone, the opposition Congress, which released its manifesto a day later, promised utilisation of 100% water allocated to Mhadei, allocation of ₹500 crore for the project in the first cabinet meeting and completion of all components of the Mhadei project in five years with a total outlay of 3,000 crore.
On ground, Ashok Chandargi, who was once the Belgaum district convener of the agitation to demand the implementation of the Kalasa Bandura irrigation project, said the project has ceased to be a big electoral issue. Chandargi was the Belagavi District Convener of the Kalasa Banduri Horata Samiti which was then led by chief minister Basvaraj Bommai, to demand irrigation projects for the region. “Since 2002, the Kalasa Banduri project has been a political issue that could sway voters’ sentiments. However, this time it is only caste and community factors that are dominating the political discourse,” Chandargi said.
However, the BJP has tried to rake up the Mahadeyi river issue with Bommai, on December 29, 2022, announcing in the state assembly that the Central Water Commission has given its go ahead to the revised DPR (detailed project report) to divert 3.9 tmc (thousand million cubic feet) of water – 2.18 tmc at the proposed Bhandura dam and 1.72 tmc of water at the proposed Kalasa dam (both tributaries of Mahadayi) – to meet the drinking water needs of the twin towns of Hubli and Dharwad.
The Kalasa Bandura project, an ambitious plan to divert waters of the west flowing streams to the east flowing Malaprabha river, was proposed by the Karnataka government in the mid 1980s initially with plans for a hydroelectric project of 350 megawatts. The Kalasa Bandura project is part of a larger Mahadayi multipurpose irrigation project consisting of three main projects – Kotni dam for power generation and diversion of 4 tmc of water to Malaprabha river, Kalasa Nala dam Haltara and Potli dams to divert water to the water deficient Malaprabha river at different places.
The project got wings in August 2018 when the Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal granted Karnataka 13.42 tmc of water out of their demand of 36.558 tmc of water, culminating nearly four decades of disputes between Goa and Karnataka over sharing of the waters of the river Mahadayi.
The project was aimed to benefit thousands of farmers dependent on the Malaprabha river who live in most arid parts of north Karnataka, that includes 13 talukas across four districts, including Belagavi.
On ground, there is not much resonance for the government’s last-minute approval of projects. Chandargi said that successive governments have raked up the issue only at the time of elections in a bid to keep the issue alive and benefit politically.
“The tender for the project was floated 19 minutes before the code of conduct was announced for the Karnataka elections. The public, too, has lost faith in the political leadership and is no longer asking questions to those in power,” he said.
He sought to know why the government waited until the last minute to approve the projects, and especially when Bommai, who once led the protests, was at the helm of affairs. “Even he has done nothing,” he said.
In Hubli Dharwad district, which once saw massive protests for the early completion of the project, the issue has faded from political consciousness. “The Mahadayi issue doesn’t hold much water anymore, perhaps because in the last few years, the monsoons have been exceptionally good and drinking water has not been an issue. Perhaps this year, with an anticipated below average monsoon, the situation will change,” a local journalist, who preferred to remain anonymous said.
Santosh V, a Saundatti (Belagavi) based social activist, said: “Farmers today are concerned about the price they receive for their crops, the widespread corruption at every level, especially while availing schemes for themselves. The Mahadayi project has fallen down the list of priorities.”
Back in Goa, fears are that the fate of the Mhadei will be reduced to that of the Kali Nadi, a west flowing river that begins in Uttara Kannada district and meets the Arabian Sea at Karwar. Unlike the Mahadayi that presently meets the Arabian Sea as a free-flowing river, the Kali is subjected to five massive dams that have submerged hectares of Western Ghats forests, including hydroelectric projects. At some stretches, the once massive river has been reduced to a canal, green activists have alleged, while farmers in downstream Karwar have complained that the dams have completely eliminated the flow of silt into the floodplain, reducing the fertility of their lands and leaving farmland prone to erosion.
“Karwar was once a net accretion zone, i.e., the beach was growing larger and larger. Today, it is one of only two critically vulnerable coastal regions in Karnataka,” said Karwar based activist Vikas Tandel, calling it an example of death of the rivers.
