BANGALORE: With water crisis looming large across Bangalore, irrigation expert G S Paramashivaiah on Sunday urged the state government to put a detailed project report (DPR) to divert water streams from Western Ghats to supply 12 TMC (of the total 158.90 TMC) water to Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BSSSB) on fast track. The project report proposes a solution to the irrigation and drinking water problems of Hassan, Mandya, Tumkur, Bangalore Urban and Rural, Chikballapur and Kolar districts. The report gives details about how streams from the Western Ghats, which are flowing into the Arabian Sea, can be tapped and diverted with gravity to fill all the lakes and water tanks on the way. “There is no political will to implement the project which would bring water to several villages. This proposal will benefit 8,337 villages and Greater Bangalore City which is seeing a rise in population every day,” Paramashivaiah observed.The total cost of the first phase of the project is estimated to be Rs 16,000 crore, Paramashivaiah added.“I have identified 139 taluks out of 177 in the state as drought-affected, considering several aspects including rainfall and ground water level. The water would be supplied to the districts using gravitational pull. There would be no destruction of environment,” he said. “It is not feasible to obtain 12 TMC of water for BWSSB with the existing canal system,” he said, adding that the current Yettinahole project has been ‘politicised’.
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