Panel sees no need to abandon Bagalkot

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, AUG. 27. The last word appears to have been uttered on the much-debated question of shifting the district headquarters town of Bagalkot, with a committee appointed by the Government emphatically stating that it was not necessary to shift the entire town as the height of the Alamatti Dam would not go beyond 519.6 metres.

The Supreme Court had ruled in a litigation preferred by Andhra Pradesh that the height of the Alamatti Dam across the Krishna should not exceed 519.6 metres.

The committee, which was headed by Mr. A.A. Shetti, a former deputy commissioner of Bijapur District, presented its report to the Minister for Water Resources, Mr. H.K. Patil, here today. The nine-member committee was constituted in May 2000.

The committee has said that the structures already acquired in the town were satisfactory as the acquisition had been done keeping in view the peak maximum flood level of 521 metres. Though the shifting of the entire town was not necessary, the backwater levels in Bagalkot had to be monitored constantly. If any unacquired structure was affected by seepage or inundated by the backwaters, it had to be taken possession of.

The new habitations should be located at suitable sites beyond the backwater line for the peak maximum flood level considered for the dam. Each site had to be selected in consultation with the affected people and the Health authorities.

On the health aspects of the construction of the Alamatti Dam with regard to Bagalkot and adjoining areas, the committee has recommended that the urban malaria scheme sanctioned for the town should be implemented by the local municipality. The Government should take immediate action to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes in the towns and villages along the backwaters. The anti-malaria units under the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Ltd. and the 27 public health centres should be strengthened by filling the vacant posts. Four additional anti-malaria units should be established at Kolhar, Bagalkot, Jamakhandi and Bilgi. A 30-bed hospital should be established at Chikkalki Cross.

The committee has pointed out that the basic data for computation of backwaters in the tributaries and streams joining the Krishna and the Ghataprabha valleys upstream of the Alamatti Dam were not available. The data should be collected and the extent of backwaters determined by the project authorities.

It has recommended the monitoring, for a period of five years, of soil health and crop conditions in the agricultural lands adjoining the shorelines that were not acquired for the Alamatti and Narayanpur reservoirs. The Government should request the National Institute of Hydrology at Roorkee (Uttaranchal) to undertake the work. Wetland technology should be adopted in the inlets to the reservoirs to prevent sedimentation in the reservoirs and to avoid polluting them. Afforestation should be undertaken along the shorelines of the two dams, and industrial and domestic wastes should be treated before being discharging into the reservoirs and rivers.

The members of the committee were Dr. R.B. Patil of Hubli, Mr. V.B. Bellad, retired chief engineer, Mr. V.H. Patil, retired engineer-in-chief, Dr. A.E. Punit, Registrar and Professor of Sociology, Karnatak University, Dharwad, Dr. M. Mahadevappa, former vice-chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Mr. K.L. Nadagouda, agronomist, UAS, Dharwad, Dr. M.V. Murugendrappa, Additional Director of Health, and Prof. S.T. Patil (Member-Secretary).

Mr. H.K. Patil told presspersons here that the State Cabinet would take a decision on the report.

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Section  : Southern States
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