Greens begin letter drive against Yettinahole

Mangaluru: Undeterred by their legal battle against the controversial Yettinahole project turning sour, environmentalists of Dakshina Kannada are continuing their struggle against it with a letter campaign appealing to elected representatives from the region to put a stop to it.

Both the greens and people of the coastal districts are against the Yettinahole project, which aims to provide drinking water to the parched districts of Kolar, Chikkaballapur and Bengaluru rural by diverting Yettinahole, a major tributary of the river Netravathi, to them.

They believe the project will not only damage the flow of Netravathi river, but also destroy forests and grasslands in the  Western Ghats.

“We have started a letter campaign against the project directed at all  seven MLAs of Dakshina Kannada district, the district in-charge minister, U T Khader and also MPs of Dakshina Kannada and Chikkaballapur. We have also decided to write to the Prime Minister and environment minister to put a stop to the project,” said environmentalist and Sahyadri Sanchaya convener, Dinesh Holla, adding that the MLAs, who were aware of the water crisis in the coastal region, must raise the issue in the assembly and put a stop to Yettinahole project, which would further deprive it of water.

“They need to show commitment to people who voted for them. When Dakshina Kannada has been declared drought-hit, how can water be diverted to another drought- hit area?” he demanded.