Protest today against delay in Varahi project

Members of the Udupi Zilla Raitha Sangha will stage a dharna at Siddapura in the district on Thursday to protest against the delay in the implementation of the Varahi Irrigation Project.

A release by the sangha here on Wednesday said that though both the construction of Brahmavar Cooperative Sugar Factory and Varahi Irrigation Project were launched on the same day 35 years ago, the former had materialised but the latter was progressing at snail’s pace.

Major and Medium Irrigation Minister M.B. Patil and Urban Development Minister Vinay Kumar Sorake had assured the farmers that water would flow in the canals of the Varahi Irrigation Project by the end of the year. Failing which, the sangha was forced to launch a protest, they said.

Escalating costs

When it was launched, the project was expected to provide irrigation facilities to 15,702 hectares of land at a cost of Rs. 9.54 crore. But in the last 35 years, its cost had escalated and Rs. 598 crore had been spent on the project, without a single drop of water flowing in either its right or left bank canals.

The project was expected to provide irrigation facilities to 33 villages in Kundapur taluk and 33 villages in Udupi taluk. The length of the Varahi Right Bank Canal was 42.37 km, but the land that had been acquired was enough for just 24 km of the canal. For the Left Bank Canal, planned to be 44.35-km long, land enough for only 30 km had been acquired.

There was no clear information about the sub canals and their lengths or land acquisition for the sub canals at the office of the Varahi project. Since the officers did not have full knowledge of the project, it was difficult to trust that they would complete it, the sangha said.

Inordinate delays

There were several mistakes in the implementation of the project. Tenders had been called despite land acquisition not having been completed.

There were massive irregularities in the project — being probed by the Karnataka Lokayukta — because of some vested interests, the release said. The sangha urged stern legal action against the guilty. The sangha would intensify its agitation in phases until water flowed in the canals of the Varahi Irrigation Project.