The Mandya district administration held a meeting to discuss a proposal to conduct experimental blasting around KRS reservoir as part of a study to assess the impact of quarrying activities around the reservoir.
The proposal to conduct experimental blasting around the reservoir had been taken up in accordance with the direction of the Karnataka High Court in January this year to ban all mining activities within a radius of 20 km from the KRS dam till an expert team studies the impact of quarrying or mining on the dam.
During the meeting attended by officials of various departments of the district administration, Deputy Commissioner of Mandya Kumara said a close vigil has been mounted against any quarrying and mining activities in the vicinity of the dam as per the directions of the High Court.
The over nine-decades-old KRS dam built across the Cauvery in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district has been the lifeline of people of the region by providing water not only for irrigation, but also drinking.
With the State government informing the High Court that a study by an expert team on the impact of quarrying and mining on the dam will be conducted within six months, the Deputy Commissioner of Mandya said the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited. had constituted a team of experts for the purpose and they will have to carry out the trial blasts.
However, farmers’ organisations had strongly opposed any move to conduct trial blasts. The representatives of the farmers’ organisations, who were present at the meeting, pointed out that there was a threat to the reservoir even from the trial blasts.
However, Mr. Kumara said the government had informed the High Court that a study by experts on the impact of quarrying on the dam will be conducted and a report by the expert committee on dam safety will be submitted within six months. Hence, he convinced the representatives of the farmers’ organisations on the need to fix a date for trial blasts.
It may be mentioned here that various farmers’ organisations had been opposing trial blasts for the last several years. Demonstrations under the banner of ‘Save KRS’ campaign had been held in different parts of Srirangapatna and Pandavapura taluks of Mandya district earlier.
In July 2022, a team of scientists from Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research (CIMFR) from Dhanbad in Jharkhand was scheduled to visit the area to carry out “controlled” trial blasts with various equipment, including seismograph and other tools to measure the intensity of ground vibrations. But, the visit was cancelled amid strong protests by farmers.
