UNI

Mysore, Mar 25: The final award of Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT), that has triggered large-scale agitation in Cauvery basin in Karnataka, has cast a dark shadow on implementation of Kabini II stage lift irrigation project that could bring water to 1.23 lac hectares of parched land Mysore and Chamarajanagar districts.

The farmers coming under the tail-end area of Kabini, the main tributary of Cauvery, have expressed grave concern over the uncertainty in implementation of the project following the verdict, which allocated 419 TMC Ft of Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu and 270 to Karnataka, apart from 30 TMC to Kerala and nine tmc to Puducherry.

Farmers from various villages coming under the area told UNI that they had cherished the dream of getting their dry land irrigated under the project. However, the tribunal award had come as a rude shock and they feared the state's share of water would not be enough for implementation Kabini-II stage project.

According to officials in the department of water resources, the project was conceived in 1986 at a cost of Rs 395 crore. Following consistent pressure from late B Rachiah, then a minister in the Ramakrishna Hegde ministry, then Public Works Minister H D Deve Gowda, had laid the foundation stone for the project near Antarasante village of H D Kote taluk in this district. The plan was to make use of 65 TMC feet of water from Kabini.