Hubballi: Farmer Nagesh Appoji, 44, of Bairanahatti village in Nargund taluk has been battling drought for as long as he can remember as the water from the Malaprabha reservoir has never reached his farm since it was built in 1972.With no means of cultivating his fields, the farmer has been working as an agricultural labourer or as a daily wager in cities he regularly visits in search of employment.
Although it has a storage capacity of 37.5 tmcft, the Malaprabha reservoir has filled to the brim only a few times over the last four decades. In fact, it's often only half full, leaving many tail-end farmers like Nagesh without the water they badly need for irrigation.
Most were pinning their hopes on diversion of water to the reservoir from the Kalasa and Banduri tributaries of Mahadayi. "I spent Rs 40,000 to grow sunflower on my four acres of land, but got yield worth just Rs 10,500 in the absence of rain,” Nagesh recounted, adding , “Only diversion of Mahadayi water to Malaprabha reservoir will bring us permanent relief."
