The Hindu : Support to revive historic tank growing

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 20, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Support to revive historic tank growing

By Our Staff Correspondent

HASSAN FEB. 19. Even as the district in-charge Minister, H.C.Srikantaiah, is showing interest in developing the area around the Channapatna tank by sanctioning land in the dried-up 11th Century tank for various projects, including the construction of an Iskcon Temple and a Bal Bhavan, environmentalists and nature lovers are getting together to save the tank from becoming a concrete jungle.

People from different walks of life are preparing to protect the tank. Janamata, a forum to save the tank, has been formed to urge the district administration against sanctioning land in Channapatnakere.

Janamata has decided to protest on Thursday against the use of tank land for other purposes, by wearing black bands and pouring water into the tank yard as a symbol of its rejuvenation.

In a press release, conveners of Janamata said a procession would be taken out from Hemavathi statue to Channapatnakere and a dharna would be staged.

They said that 182 open wells and an equal number of borewells had gone dry, as the groundwater level had depleted in the city. Channapatnakere, which met the water needs of the city in the past, was breached for extraneous reasons. Now it was imperative to rejuvenate the tank under the circumstances, they said.

The conveners alleged that Mr. Srikantaiah sanctioned the land in the tank area for development without realising its importance. However, they cautioned the district administration that any development in the tank area would be resisted by the people. Channapatna, which was founded by Bukka Nayaka, a Chola officer, was a serene town in the 11th Century. After developing it, he named it Channapatna, which means `beautiful town', and constructed a tank between Hassan city and Channapatna. People later identified the tank as Channapatnakere.

The historic tank was breached in December 1996, and, later, the tank went dry. According to residents of the area, politicians played a role in the drying up of the tank. On many occasions, Mr. Srikantaiah had accused H.D.Revanna, former minister and Janata Dal (S) leader, of breaching the tank "overnight".

Mr. Revanna had decided to develop the tank-bed area when villagers stopped cultivating the land for want of water. The rough draft submitted to the Government contained several steps, including shifting of bus and railway stations. However, the Karnataka Housing Board, which had taken up the project, abandoned it in 2001.

A few organisations have expressed support to Janamata. The district unit of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) cautioned that any attempt to build structures on the land would be opposed by the organisation.

The President of the district unit of SFI, A.R.Jamuna, alleged that private parties had attempted to encroach upon the tank area.

The district unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) criticised Mr. Srikantaiah for promising to sanction 10 acres of land in the area for the construction of college complex. The DYFI district unit President, Dharmesh, said that Mr. Srikantaiah, who had criticised the breaching of the tank, instead of rejuvenating it, was virtually killing the tank by allowing construction in the area.

The district unit of the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Tribes Association and Gold and Silver Merchants' Associations expressed support for the protests.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner, L.K.Atheeq, who visited the tank recently, has asked officials of the Minor Irrigation Department to study the possibility of rejuvenating it.

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