Pramod Madhwaraj unhappy with officials for failing to fix irregularities in Varahi Project

Pramod Madhwaraj unhappy with officials for failing to fix irregularities in Varahi Project

Kundapur: Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs, Fisheries and Minister in-charge district Pramod Madhwaraj expressed his dissatisfaction with the officials for failing to fix irregularities in the Varahi Irrigation Project.

Minister who was reviewing the project said that mismanagement in fixing irregularities and addressing the issues of farmers is ruining the sole purpose of the project.

 Minister inspected the canal passing through the villages of Shriyar, Gudattu, Gavali, Kakkunje, Hunsimakki, Bahartkal, Horiyabbe and other areas covering the project.

The people of Molahalli village urged for compensation for their homes damaged by the explosions. While the minister asked for the report, the engineer failed to furnish the details of the work related to the explosions in the area. The Minister expressed his dissatisfaction and warned that such irregularities will not be tolerated, he instructed the officials to fix the issue.

Eight houses were affected as the canal had broken but no compensation was yet released. He instructed the Assistant Commissioner Kundapur to take cognizance of the same. People have given their land in support of the project and their issues have to be effectively addressed.

The government has spent rupees 589 crores on the project and officials should stop harassing the farmers. He also said that irregularities affecting farmers will not be tolerated.

He instructed the Chief Engineer to review the performance of the project with consultation with the Assistant Commissioner, Forest Officials, and Revenue Department. He instructed the officials to fix the issues within 15 days and furnish a detailed report on the same.

The villagers said that distributaries need to be constructed for the effective use of water. The water flowing through the main canal was not reaching them due to incomplete construction. Minister said that the problems which could have been effectively solved in a short time are taking years to be solved. The project was not reaching the 200 to 300 acre covered areas due to faulty and delayed construction.

The farmers and the residents in Nelyadi-Kabbinahitlu and Kakkunje spoke about the issues in providing compensation. Besides the area in which the canal is passing through, the way is almost ineffectual due to low quality construction and the water choked-up in the canal is retreated to Kakkunje river in the catchment area, they said.

With land acquisition being a major delay, the entire project is on lapse. The work of diversion weir is completed. At Yeddadi-Mayyadi, the work which is taken place in the open place seems to be totally unscientific and the farmers in the area are struggling to receive water for irrigation. In the juncture at the 27 km in the Left Bank Canal (LBC), the canal has created problem as in the past two months, the water has failed to irrigate the land. In Molahalli, the bridge at 23 km in LBC is incomplete. Rain creates havoc in the area.

In Hardalli-Mandalli there is a house covering five cents of land. The inhabitants are stubborn as they are not satisfied with the compensation package and it resulted in the incomplete work of the canal, it was brought to the notice of the meeting.

The minister, who made the spot inspection, told the Varahi executive engineer to look into the problem and offer compensatory land to the dwellers. If the house area is acquired and the canal is extended, the project would be enable to offer water to nearly 50-60 acres of land, he added.

Gopal Poojary MLA Byndoor, Pratapchandra Shetty and Kota Srinivas Poojary MLC’s, Priyanka Mary Francis Deputy Commissioner, Shilpa Naag Assistant Commissioner Kundapur, Zilla Panchayat and Taluk Panchayat members, Varahi Engineers and others were present.