People of Karnataka, TN get ready for a new battle! Clean up polluted Cauvery
Bengaluru: Farmers, pontiffs and like-minded people of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are joining hands to launch a ‘Clean Cauvery’ campaign from October 17 to coincide with “Teerthotdhbhava” at Talacauvery in Kodagu, following the slow poisoning of the Cauvery thanks to release of untreated sewage into the river.
“Cauvery, the lifeline of both states, is slowly dying due to release of sewage into the river. Need of the hour is to launch a campaign failing which this sacred river will join the list of most polluted rivers in the country,” bemoaned Mr M.V. Chandramohan, state coordinator of Kaveri Nadi Swachata Andolan. He told DC that farmers of Karnataka and TN who fight for water during distress years, are now coming together to save this river from pollution. The river was getting polluted all along the 900-km stretch from Talacauvery to Pompuhar in TN. Release of untreated sewage, sand lifting, dumping of garbage, plastic items and letting in effluents from factories are posing a grave threat to the very existence of the river.
The state government, in the name of promoting tourism, was giving permission to build hotels and resorts on the banks of Cauvery, without understanding its impact on the natural flow of the river. Many hotels which do not have underground drainage facility, were releasing sewage into the river.
Local civic bodies were not doing anything to protect the river. For others Cauvery may be a river, but for the people of Kodagu, she is a Goddess who is taking care of lakhs of people of both states. In the name of tourism, trees were being cut to level the ground, resulting in a change in the course of river. In fact, the river course of Harangi, a tributary of Cauvery, too has changed of late, said Mr Chandramohan.
He said members of the Andolan have decided to launch a postcard campaign with a message ‘Cauvery river catchment areas in trouble..pray for intervention’ addressed to chief justice of SC from October 17.
Kodagu, which was once receiving around 500 inches of rain every year, was now hardly getting 140 inches annually. Many taluks are facing acute water shortage, indicating changes in weather condition owing to reckless cutting of trees. The reason for the slow death of Cauvery was its non-inclusion in the Rivers’ Protection Act, 1956. A request to CM Siddaramaiah to implement this Act to protect vanishing rivers, was not taken seriously, he said.
Mr Chandramohan said Union Minister for Water Resources and Ganga Rejuvenation Uma Bharthi would be requested to take up ‘Clean Cauvery’ mission on the lines of ‘Clean Ganga’. Another convention is planned at Pompuhar in November.
