Silvester D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Kundapur (SP)

Kundapur, Mar 17: Varahi project, which was undertaken at a cost of about Rs 600 crore, had hit headlines in the past repeatedly for taking too long to complete. Now, the project, which is yet to be executed completely, has been often in the news because its canals are breaching year after year on account of substandard work.

On Friday March 17 morning, the left bank canal of Varahi project breached at the 26th kilometre, known as Koykadi Kelahebbagilu. Due to the breach, large amount of water gushed into the agricultural fields, destroying standing crops and other vegetation there. Thousands of areca nut plants got inundated. Water also entered the house of Koykadi Baby Shetty of Kelahebbagilu House.

The loss due to this incident is expected to run into several lacs of rupees, in addition to loss of precious water which could have irrigated large tracts of fields. The villagers are livid at the fact that no officials from Varahi Project visited the spot although they were informed about this breach promptly.

Molahalli gram panchayat president, Uday Kulal, zilla panchayat member, Supreeta Kulal, taluk panchayat president, Jayashree Mogaveera, and others visited the spot and inspected the loss.