Bengaluru:
The Centre has accorded environmental clearance to the Karnataka government’s long standing demand for the Kalasa Banduri project, aimed at providing drinking water to three north Karnataka districts by diverting water from the Mahadayi river in Goa.
“On the follow up of my cabinet colleague (Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs) Pralhad Joshi, Kalasa Banduri drinking water project in Karnataka has been granted Environmental Approval, tweeted Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Prakash Javadekar.
Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa thanked the Union Government for granting the environmental clearance.
“The Environment Ministry has given its nod to the Kalasa Banduri project, almost paving the way for its completion,” he said.
The Chief Minister said his government had promised that it would set at rest the controversy related to the project, which was evident in the centre clearing the decks for its completion.
“We will initiate steps to start the project, Yediyurappa said.
The project is aimed at providing drinking water to the three important districts of north Karnataka Belagavi, Gadag and Dharwad, which go parched in summer due to acute water scarcity.
The project involves diverting water from Mahadayi river, the lifeline of Goa, into the Malaprabha river.
The scheme, pending for decades, was revived when S M Krishna was the Chief Minister in 2002, but soon ran into trouble when the then chief minister of Goa Manohar Parrikar raised objections, stating that it would affect the flora and fauna of the state.
Hence, it was dropped.
However, there was growing demand for the approval of the project and many demonstrations and protests took place in North Karnataka for its approval.
The issue was the main poll plank of both Congress and the BJP during the Assembly election last year.
