Mangalore, Aug 3: Vanya Charana Balaga (Wild Trekking Club) has urged the state government to axe the Netravathi river diversion project on the grounds that it would endanger a vast portion of the Western Ghats.
The Yettinhole project or Netravathi diversion project poses a major threat to the Western Ghats which is a rich source of water and the biodiversity in it. In the pretext of development, the state government has set out to put its stake on the river Netravathi which is the lifeline of people living in Dakshina Kannada. However, most of the people in the district are unaware of the Yettinahole project or its consequences, said convenor of the club Dinesh Holla.
Addressing mediapersons at a press meet here on Friday, he said that the organisation would undertake several awareness programmes in the coming days to make people conscious of the adverse effects of the project.
“The club will organise awareness talks in schools, colleges, associations and other institutions to spread the message and create awareness among people. Our attempt is to make people aware of some of the consequences if the tributary of Netravathi is made to change its course,” he said, adding that a vast portion of the rain forests in Western Ghats would be submerged if the project were to take off.
A memorandum in this regard will be submitted to the district-in-charge minister and Chief Minister of Karnataka, he added.
President of the club Sudhir Kumar, vice-president Rajesh Naik and vice-secretary Sunil Kumar were present.
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