Residents residing on the banks of Tunga river oppose water supply scheme

They have put up a temporary kitchen in Heggodu village where they cook ganji (porridge) for lunch.

For the last 15 days, residents of many villages located on the banks of the Tunga river in Tirthahalli in Karnataka have been protesting against a multivillage drinking water supply scheme, being executed under the Jal Jeevan Mission of the Union Government.

Residents of Kodlu, Heggodu, Balekodlu, Savali, Kavalane, Alageri, Balagodu, Gudde Koppa, Haluballi, Bikkolli and some other villages in the taluk have joined hands under the Bheemeshwara Sangama Ulisi Horata Samiti. They are all opposed to the project, which they allege was designed only to benefit contractors and the politicians who got the project sanctioned by the BJP government at the Centre.

The purpose of the project is to lift water from Bheemeshwara Sangama, where rivers Malathi and Tunga join, and supply the same to 1,616 habitations in 36 gram panchayats in Tirthahalli taluk. The project has been taken up under DBOT model (Design, Build, Operate and Transfer). It was approved in March 2022 at a cost of ₹274.40 crore. Later, the cost was revised to ₹344 crore. The work is being executed by a construction company based in Tirthahalli. Wellgrown trees spread over four acres of grazing land ( gomala) have been chopped to build a water treatment plant.

The protests began in 2023 when the contractors began their ground work at Kodlu village, a couple of kilometres away from the Bheemeshwara Sangama. Villagers wanted to know what the work was all about. Abhilash, a resident of Savali village, applied for information under RTI. The villagers had to protest to get information about the project that would impact their lives in a major way.

The farmers met Minister Priyank Kharge in Bengaluru. However, they were not happy with the response they received.