The Tungabhadra reservoir site in Hosapete has seen a flurry of activity over the last 25 days, with farmers removing silt with heavy machinery as part of a symbolic movement to demand that the government either dredge the reservoir or come up with alternative plans to augment storage. An unexpected beneficiary of this exercise, however, has been the brick industries nearby.
One could see a serpentine queue of lorries waiting for their turn to get the silt loaded. These lorries have been making their way to the stockyards of brick factories at Mariyammanahalli and Kondanayakanahalli located nearby. This has been a windfall of sorts for the factories since the silt comes for free.
D. Ranga Reddy, Secretary Tungabhadra Board, told The Hindu that he learnt of silt being taken by brick industries. According to him, farmers could take the silt to be used in their lands for free. For commercial purposes, however, royalty of ₹6 per cubic metre has to be paid.
“The board had requested the Assistant Commissioner and the police to look into the matter and initiate action,” he said.
The storage capacity of the over six-decade-old reservoir has come down to around 100 tmcft from the original 133 tmcft owing to siltation over the years. The reduced capacity has brought down the legitimate share of Tungabhadra waters of Karnataka and undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The reservoir did not get filled up owing to failure of rain during the past two years and as a result, water could not be released for the second crop.
Agitation to end today
The symbolic movement launched by farmers to remove silt from the Tungabhadra reservoir on May 18 will be stopped from Sunday. According to an estimate, around 20,000 to 25,000 cubic metre of silt might have been removed during the past 25 days.
The onset of monsoon is another reason for taking a decision to stop the work as the area had become slushy, making it difficult for movement of silt-laden vehicles. The organisers have planned to hold a valedictory programme to honour the donors, in the presence of seers of various religious mutts.
The movement — launched under the district unit of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and Hasiru Sene, with its president Darur Purushotam Gouda in the lead — received positive response from farmers’ groups. An average of ₹2.25 lakh was a day’s expenditure towards the cost of diesel for earthmovers and tractors lent by farmers of surrounding villages.
