Vijayapura farmers demand water for lakes

Vijayapura: A group of farmers met regional commissioner KM Janaki in Belagavi on Tuesday, demanding permission to release water into canals to fill lakes under the command area of the Lal Bahadur Shastri reservoir.

Karnataka Farmers’ Association state president Aravind Kulkarni and Hasiru Sene taluk president Seethappa Gani urged that water be released through all canals connected to the Mulawad and Chimmalagi lift irrigation projects so that 124 lakes in the district can be filled again.

“Although water was released into all canals until April 28, only about 30% of the lakes have been filled. KBJNL officials claim that 70% of the lakes have been filled, which is far from the truth,” they alleged.

They further said that a protest was held on May 5 in front of the office of the chief engineer of KBJNL in Almatti by joint organisations. Chief engineer D Basavaraj accepted the memorandum and stated that a letter had been sent to the regional commissioner seeking permission to release water again into the canals.

“In several parts of the Vijayapura district, lakes have not received sufficient water. This year’s summer heat has been extremely severe compared to previous years, and the water already released is evaporating quickly. With about a month of summer remaining, there will be a shortage of drinking water for both people and livestock. Immediate orders should be issued to release water into all canals and ensure that at least 75% to 80% of the lakes are filled to meet drinking water needs,” they added.

Responding to the memorandum, the regional commissioner assured that a report would be obtained immediately from district officials and necessary permission would be granted to release water. Another memorandum was also submitted regarding land access road issues, seeking legal amendments and full authority for tahsildars.

Farmer leaders including Shashikant Desai, Peerasab Nadaf, Venkatesh Vaddar, Saibanna Angadi, Ibrahim Valikar, Lankesh Talawar, Nagappa Budagol, Manju Chalavadi, Basavaraj Boli, Chandappa Bommanagi and Honnappa Kengutti were present.