PRR CAN DRY UP TG HALLI CATCHMENT AREA

BDA Flouting Govt Rules On Agricultural Land, Which Is Critical For Hundreds Of Farmers

Sunitha Rao R | TNN

Bangalore: The Bangalore Development Authority’s Peripheral Ring Road (PRR) project is now eating into catchment areas of Tippagondanahalli reservoir which is critical for Bangalore as well as hundreds of farmers in the area.    TG Halli, as it’s better known, is one of the city’s major water resources. It would supply up to 125 million litres per day (MLD) during the late 1990s, but now delivers barely 20 MLD. Worsening matters will be the PRR (a stretch of 116km) for which the BDA has notified for acquisition agricultural land in its catchment area, which is actually a zone three periphery. BDA seems to be flouting a government order on such zones: ‘No person shall carry on activities other than agriculture or agriculture-related activities in these areas without prior permission’. With this project, commercial activity and urbanization are bound to follow and that will affect the reservoir, say farmers of the area.    Responding to an RTI query filed in 2007 by land owner K Gautham Chandra Jain, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board said Madanaikanahalli, Hanumanthasagara, Vaddarahalli, Lakshmipura and Kadugere constitute the catchment areas.    “My property is in the catchment area of the reservoir and comes under the bio-sensitive area of zone three. Our land canrnot be taken over for road-making. The Karnataka Pollution Control Board has questioned BDA for encouraging commercial activities in the catchment area near the Nice corridor, but ironically the government is encouraging another huge infrastructure project in the catchment area. It’s not just about my land. The larger issue is about the ecological imbalance that’s an offshoot of the project,” Jain told TOI. Jain’s 1.5 acres in Madanaikanahalli have been notified for acquisition and like many farmers, Jain stopped cultivation once the BDA notified it.    All the survey numbers in Hanumantha Sagara village come under zone three, whereas BDA’s notification has identified land from survey number 25 to 45 for acquisition. At Kuduregere village, survey numbers such as 54, 55 and 98 are under zone 3, but also identified for acquisition.    Vaddarahalli and Lakshmipura are the only two villages in the catchment area which haven’t been affected by the project.

ISRO recommendations shunned?

In 2001, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), in association with Indian Resources Information and Management Technologies Pvt Ltd (IN-RIMIT) did a study to determine the reasons for the alarming deterioration in the quantity of water supplied to the city. It identified unplanned development, increasing urbanization and industrialization in the catchment area as the main reasons. It also gave some recommendations (see box). But the project has not taken these into consideration while planning the project, which is next to the Arkavathi river.

Project ramifications

   “Unplanned development in the catchment area is one of the main reasons for the deteriorating quality and reduced inflow into the reservoir. Increasing urbanization and

industrialization in the catchment area is one of the main reasons for the deteriorating quality and reduced inflow into the reservoir,” says the survey report.    “The project is not only swallowing lakhs of farmers’ agricultural land but also not sparing the water body. We’ll fight in the courts to rescue the catchment area,” D M Dwarakanath, president, North Bangalore Citizens’ Association said. BWSSB chairman PB Ramamurthy was not available for comment. A senior BWWSB official said no activities can be done in an area deemed to be Zone Three. “We’ll look into the notification and bring it to the notice of the higher authorities. If the project comes above the full tank level, the reservoir will not be affected. If the PRR project is executed, there’ll also be commercial and industrial activities on either side of the road which will adversely affect the reservoir,” he said. BDA will also have to build bridges wherever necessary for water flow if the project comes up, officials said.

BDA Commissionerspeak

I have nothing to say on this. This infrastructure project was approved by the government. We’ll go ahead with the project as per the notification. If industrial units are set up in the catchment area, that will lead to depletion of the water reservoir. But we’re coming with only a road, which is essential, and not to cause any harm to the reservoir —Bharat Lal Meena | COMMISSIONER, BDA     Isro’s suggestions

• Formation of conservation zone covering the entire Tippagondanahalli reservoir catchment and adopting suitable land utilization strategy therein, especially from the point of view of regulating urbanization/ industrialization

• Declaring a zone of about 10-km radius around Tippagondanahalli reservoir as area of protection

• Regulating a buffer of 2 km on either side of the Arkavathi and Kumudvathy courses (within the catchment) for protecting the Tippagondanahalli reservoir from further deterioration