Minor Irrigation Department had taken up a project to protect land abutting the Netravathi from the ingress of saltwater at an estimated cost of ₹8 crore. | Photo Credit: ANIL KUMAR SASTRY
Work on the 365-metre-long pitching and four-metre-wide embankment wall along the Netravathi, between Bajal and Kannur in Mangaluru taluk, under the Khar Land protection project has come to a halt over allegations of coastal regulation zone norm violations.
The Minor Irrigation Department had taken up the project to protect land abutting the river from the ingress of saltwater at an estimated cost of ₹8 crore on the northern bank of the Netravathi.
.However, Society for Forest, Environment and Climate Change had complained to the Regional Director (Environment) of the Forest, Environment and Ecology department alleging violations of CRZ norms in the construction and said the region falls under CRZ II category.
In a reply to H. Shashidhar Shetty, general secretary of National Environment Care Federation (NECF), Mangaluru, to queries under the Right to Information Act on August 27, the Regional Director said the department has already directed the Minor Irrigation Department to halt the work. The executing agency was yet to get the CRZ clearance from the Karnataka State Coastal Regulation Management Authority though it had submitted relevant documents and papers, the Regional Director said.
Mangaluru Deputy Conservator of Forest Anthony S. Mariappa, who is also the Regional Director (Environment), said the Dakshina Kannada District Coastal Management Authority had cleared the proposal of the Minor Irrigation Department for the Khar Land protection project. It was sent to the State authority for clearance. Since the State Authority was yet to issue the clearance, the department directed the executing agency to halt the work, he said.
Minor Irrigation Department officials said the department had submitted the proposal to the authority with all necessary documents, including the Environment Impact Assessment done by National Institute of Technology-Karnataka at Surathkal. There was a delay in the State authority according the approval, they said, and expressed hope of getting the clearance soon.
The department was executing similar projects on the southern bank of the Netravathi near Harekala, near Dambel on the Phalguni (Gurupura) bank and at some places in Udupi district too, officials said.
