All decks cleared for Kalasa-Banduri project in Karnataka

The Kalasa-Banduri project's tireless efforts to be implemented by the state government, farmers, and numerous organisations from different parts of north Karnataka have finally paid off as the Center approved the project. The Central Water Commission (CWC) approved a revised Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project that the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP administration had presented to them, allowing Karnataka to utilise its allotment of 3.9 TMC water from the Mahadayi river as part of the project. The project's goal is to enhance the availability of drinking water in the four districts of Belagavi, Bagalkot, Dharwad, and Gadag. It opens the way for the construction of two Mahadayi river tributaries that will cross Kalasa and Banduri and channel water toward the Malaprabha river. The amended DPR was approved after overcome a number of obstacles, according to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai. It is the victory of the farmers of north Karnataka's 30-year battle, he declared. “I'll release a request for proposals and begin work on the project as soon as possible, he continued. Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol acknowledged Bommai in his address to the Assembly for helping to get the project approved. Bommai informed the reporters in Belagavi that the project was started in 1988, when his father S R Bommai was the Chief Minister, and he recalled the turn of events. 8 environmental cases registered to block the project The following governments that came into office opposed the project even though Goa’s then Chief Minister had an agreement with Karnataka to have it carried out. He claimed that several farmers who participated in demonstrations calling for its implementation were lathi-charged on multiple occasions and that a lengthy padayatra was also dispersed. A tribunal was established when the Goa government filed a lawsuit in opposition to the project. The Congress-led Karnataka government filed an affidavit before the tribunal stating that it would construct a wall to the interlinking canal after the judge directed it not to divert water from Kalasa Nala. “Even now, the wall is still standing, and this is the Congress government’s accomplishment. Except for the wall that the Congress government built here, no major projects in all of India have ever included a wall. Now that all the obstacles had been overcome, the amended DPR had been approved by the Center, he remarked. The state government won each of the eight environmental cases that were brought to stop the project, he continued. The Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal allotted 2.18 TMC and 1.72 TMC of Mahadayi water under the Bhandura dam project and the Kalasa dam project, respectively, out of the overall allocation of 13.42 TMC of Mahadayi water in 2018. According to renowned Supreme Court attorney Mohan Katarki, who also represents the state in interstate water sharing projects, these allocations are made contingent on the fresh preparation of Detailed Project Reports (to be prepared as directed by the Tribunal) and on receiving the necessary clearances from the Union government under the Forest Conservation Act of 1981 and Environment Protection Act of 1985. In June 2022, Karnataka filed its DPR to the Central Water Commission for Banduri and Kalasa (CWC).