Kukkasamudra Lake overflows, brings joy to farmers

CH NEWS, CHIKKAMAGALURU

The Bhadra water flowing through the Chitradurga branch canal on the upper banks of the Bhadra has given a new life to the farmers of the plains bordering Kadur taluk. While the Antaraghatte Lake and the Kukkasamudra Lakes in Kalkere have dried up, the Hoolihalli Lake is full, and water is flowing into the next lake in Chaulahiriyur village. In a situation where the monsoon has failed and sowing has not been possible, and the lakes and banks have dried up, making it difficult for people and livestock to even get drinking water, the Visvesvaraya Jal Nigam, as per the government's order, had come forward to experimentally release water to Chitradurga through the Chitradurga branch canal and fill the lakes on the way.
After the experimental water flow started on September 6, water also flowed into the lakes in the Tarikere-Ajjampur area and the Antaraghatte lake in Kadur was filled first. There were a couple of technical glitches while releasing water to the Kukkasamudra lake, complaints that water was eroding farmers' lands near the Hebbur "Y" junction, and obstructions by farmers. With the intervention of the Kadur MLA, the struggle of farmer leaders from the Chaulahiriyur area and former MLAs, water has started flowing smoothly into the lakes. The Kalkere Kukkasamudra Lake has a water holding capacity of 162 hectares and can store 3.85 MCFT of water and irrigate thousands of acres of land, rehabilitate hundreds of tube wells and fill several lakes and ponds. The water flowing from there will provide drinking water to Shettyhalli, Korateekere, Kanguvalli, Kaddina Kere, and Kabbala Grama Panchayats in Hosadurga taluk and from there will help in supplying drinking water to Hosadurga town by filling the check dam of Kellodu village. Farmers from Chaulahiriyur have started a struggle. The cooperation of the MLAs, the help of the engineers and officials of the Visvesvaraya Water Corporation have helped us escape the scorching heat to some extent. We are no longer afraid until summer. However, in the coming days, the government should formulate a water policy and water education, obtain information about the panchayat-wise lakes and increase their storage capacity by dredging them. The pending work in the project to fill the lakes by installing pipelines should be taken up soon, says G Ashok Kumar, a farmer leader from Chaulahiriyur.