The work of the Upper Bhadra Project to irrigate drought-prone parts of Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Tumakuru and Davangere districts has been delayed in Chikkamagaluru district owing to the delay in getting clearance from the Forest Department.
The Tumakuru diversion canal that takes water from the distribution chamber at Ajjampura to Tumakuru, as per the design, passes through the grasslands of Basur Amruth Mahal Kaval Blackbuck Conservation Reserve and Bilvala Kaval in Chikkamagaluru district. The land measuring 1,820.11 acres was designated as a conservation reserve through a notification issued on April 30, 2011, as per the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The 2.15-km-long canal that intersects the conservation reserve is expected to obstruct the movement of blackbucks, foxes, wolves, and other wildlife, besides the Amruth Mahal cattle.
Earlier, environmentalists had filed a public interest litigation against the allotment of Basur Kaval and Bilval Kaval for the project. The petition was dismissed by the High Court in August 2022. However, the court directed the Water Resources Department to seek clearance from the Forest Department.
