It’s not as if there are no water sources in North Karnataka, but come summer and many areas here face a severe drinking water crisis thanks to the government's indifference to making use of them for the people's needs. This summer is no different as hundreds of towns and villages across the region are in the grip of a severe water crisis.
Despite the seven rivers that flow through 10 taluks of Belgaum district, the government is having to rush tankers to several villages and towns to meet the water needs of the people. Villagers trekking long distance to fetch water has become a common scene in most areas where borewells and open wells have dried up.
Several leaders from places like Raibag, Ramdurg, Gokak, Saudatti and Bailhongal have been demanding the government supply from the Ghataprabha and Hidkal dams to the people, but so far their pleas have gone unheard. ''Most of the lakes and wells have dried up in parts of Ramdurg forcing the people to walk long distances in search of water,'' says a resident, Vittal Badiger.
The government had in the past announced major water schemes for the rural areas but did nothing to implement them, regret the villagers. Although surplus rain water is collected in Hidkal dam and Ghataprabha river in a good monsoon, it is not used to help the people in times of distress, they note. With no work available in the dry fields, hundreds are forced to migrate to neighbouring Goa and Maharashtra in search of a livelihood every summer.
Raibag taluk is the worst hit with water being supplied in tankers to 12 villages every day and eight other villages close to Raibag town having no water source to fall back on. Mr Javed Shaikh, of Sadashiv Nagar in Gokak taluk says four tankers are brought every day from Gokak’s water filter unit to his town.” The people spend their entire day getting water during April and May. The water crisis will only worsen in the next few weeks here,'' he adds.
So bad is the water crisis in several parts of Bailhongal taluk that the people here had recently threatened to boycott elections unless the government supplied them water from the Ghataprabha river.
Even Cauvery heartland parched
While the state received heavy rainfall overall during the South West Monsoon last year, four taluks of Mysore district were not as lucky and have now been declared drought- hit. In fact, 13 villages of Jaypura hobli of Mysore taluk are facing an acute drinking water crisis with tankers bringing water for even their cattle.
“As these 13 villages are among the 158 villages of Mysore taluk which depend on ground water, they are having a harder time than others as their lakes and tanks have dried up owing to the poor rainfall. The existing borewells have become defunct as the ground water which could be reached at 350 feet has fallen to below 500 feet in these villages. At least three tankers are being sent to each village every day, not just for supplying drinking water to the people but also for cattle as the tanks have dried up,” says Zilla Parishad CEO, P. A. Gopal.
Besides Mysore taluk, which received 27 per cent deficit rainfall, K RNagar that fell short of its usual rain by 22 per cent, T Narsipur which received 22 per cent less rain than usual and Nanjangud which received 9 per cent deficit rainfall have been declared drought- hit in the
district.
Of the 210 villages in Mysore taluk, only 52 are currently being supplied Cauvery water. While another 27 villages will be covered under the multi-village scheme to bring water from the Kabini river, a project to draw water from the backwaters of the Krishna Raja Sagar dam will cover another 90 villages of the taluk, according to Zilla Parishad sources.
The district administration , however, claims it is working in association with the Belgaum Zilla Parishad to find ways to mitigate the water problems of the people .
