'Dist. admin failed to check power projects that used water till March'

Mangalore, April 24: Had a restriction been put on certain power projects who were utilizing water from Kumaradhara and Netravathi rivers for power generation all the way till March, people of Mangalore would not have been reeling under water crisis today, said Vijay Kumar Shetty, Former MLA.

Addressing media persons at a press meet at the district Congress office in the city on Tuesday, Mr. Shetty said that power projects such as Disha Power Project, Kadaba, AMR and Hratwik Power Pvt Ltd, Barooka Power Pvt Ltd, Nidle, Nagarjuna Hydro Energy Pvt Ltd, Gundya, International Power Corporation Ltd, Marnahalli, Sagar Power Pvt Ltd, and Western Hydro Energy Pvt Ltd, Sakleshpur, had been utilizing water from rivers till March while the agreement is only till January.

“It is a failure on the part of the district administration, the Mangalore City Corporation and the state government for not restricting the power generation by January. They should have directed these companies to allow water to be accumulated at Thumbe dam. As per the agreement it is clear that the first priority has always been for drinking water. But they continued their power generation activity to make profits”, Mr. Shetty said, alleging that State Energy Minister Shobha Karandlaje and Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani had been pressurizing these companies to do so.

On the proposed move to privatize water in the city, Shashidhar Hegde, Corporator and Former Mayor, said that the Congress party was against it. “The issue came up for discussion in the Council and we opposed it. Our first priority is the vented dam at Thumbe”, he said.

Congress leaders also expressed dissatisfaction at the time being taken to complete the Thumbe vented dam project and the amount being spent on it. “The dam should have been completed by 2011. Now, they are saying it would be ready by 2013. The estimated cost has also been increased to 75 crores”, he lamented.