Mangaluru: Kannada Rajyotsava was celebrated at the Sahyadri College of Engineering campus on November 1.
On the occasion, a talk on the controversy regarding, ‘Yettinahole- yet in a hole’, was organised in the campus. Dr. Niranjan Rai, Convener, Nethravathi Nadhi Thiruvu Virodhi Horaata Samithi, Uppinangadi and Giridhara Kamath, Member, Sahyadri Samrakshana Sanchaya, Mangalore were the chief guests on the occasion.
Giridhara Kamath started off by explaining the meaning of “Sahyadri” as an epitome of tolerance and presented a powerpoint presentation on the topic “Environmental Flow Assessment in Yettinahole: Where is 24 TMC to divert?” He put forth that the environmental flow assessment of Yettinahole has been carried out based on the analysis of land use dynamics (using remote sensing data), meteorological data (rainfall, temperature, etc. from IMD, Pune), hydrological data (from gauged streams) apart from field investigations to quantify water yield in a catchment.
Shortsighted developmental projects in ecologically sensitive regions pose a serious threat to the ecology and biodiversity of the area, which affects the sustenance of natural resources. He said that the proposed project is ecologically unsound and economically unviable as it would weaken the food and water security of the region.
Dr. Niranjan Rai said that industrialization is not the development of the country. People should continue to improve their tradition and culture and that is the actual development of the country. Yettinahole Project basically is to save the drinking water by saving the banks of the river. He explained the importance of saving the forest and preserving water for the future generation.
Further, he suggested to the audience that the sustainable option to meet the water requirements of the arid regions in Karnataka is through decentralized water harvesting (through tanks, ponds, lakes, etc.), rejuvenation or restoration of existing lakes/ponds, reuse of waste water, recharging groundwater resources, planting native species of herbs and plants in the catchment, implementation of soil and water conservation through micro-watershed approaches.
The session was followed by a question and answer round regarding the Yettinahole project. The Principal, Staff and Management members were present for the program.
