Millions of litres of untreated sewage water from Hospet town that is being let into the Tungabhadra river has made the life of hundreds of villagers miserable.
Untreated water courses through Balagodu, Basavanadurga, Karekallu and Nagenahalli before joining the river at Kalaghatta village, about 8 km from Hospet town. The town municipality has failed to install a Sewerage Treatment Plant, putting the lives of these villagers at risk of infections and diseases.
“This has been the case for years now. We are forced to grow sugarcane, banana, paddy among others using sewage water flowing through the canal,” Shivappa, a farmer of Balagodu village told Deccan Chronicle. Rangappa, a labourer, said, “We are supplied with borewell water for drinking and other domestic chores.”
Tayesh, a farmer from Nagenahalli, said, “The sewage water from Hospet mixes with fresh water in the canal and turns it black. It flows through Karekallu and Kalaghatta villages before reaching the river. Some times, when the fresh water flow is heavy, the sewage water is hardly visible. But none of the villagers use the water. But the same cannot be said about the cattle.”
Apart from water pollution, villagers have to bear with the stench. Lakshmi, a labourer, said, “Stink surrounds the villages during evening and early morning hours. It is intolerable at times.” Villagers also complain of industrial effluents from Hospet vicinity mixing with untreated sewage water. An official of the Hospet CMC said, “On an average, about 18 million liters of untreated water is discharged from the town with a population of 2.6 lakh.”
Hospet Commissioner Rangaswami said, “We have proposed to install a sewerage treatment plant of 27 million liters per day capacity with activated sludge process. In addition, sewer network has to be re-zoned with necessary wet wells to meet the requirements of 2026.”