• Only warning boards; no action on ground
• Jacketing of damaged pillars and other protective measures remain only on paper
• Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited washes its hands off after installing warning boards on damaged pillars

Mysuru: The Varuna Canal  Aqueduct (D. Devaraj Urs Canal) near Hale Kesare, where it crosses the Mysuru-Bengaluru Highway, continues to deteriorate despite repeated warnings & official assurances.

A vital irrigation structure that supports thousands of farming families on the outskirts of Mysuru, the aqueduct remains vulnerable as the Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Limited (CNNL) has done nothing beyond installing warning boards near the site.

The aqueduct has suffered repeated damage after miscreants burnt electrical wires beneath its pillars to extract copper. The fires have weakened the reinforced concrete supports, with visible cracks developing on several pillars.

On Feb. 14, the Narasimharaja Police alerted the CNNL, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the Mysuru City Corporation about the threat.

CNNL team visit

Star of Mysore highlighted the issue in reports published on Feb. 16 under the headline ‘Duct in Danger’ and again on Feb. 26 as ‘Waste Burning Menace Continues… Aqueduct in Danger; Yet No Action!?’

Despite the Police communication, no preventive measures were taken. It was only after the media reports that senior CNNL officials inspected the site on March 2.

Executive Engineer A.S. Bhaskar, Assistant Executive Engineer Shwetha and Junior Engineer Madhushree proposed strengthening the damaged pillars with iron jacketing and constructing a compound wall around the aqueduct to prevent further vandalism.

However, more than five months later, none of the proposed works has begun. They had outlined plans to strengthen the affected section using jacketing, a reinforcement technique.

Instead, officials have only installed warning boards on nearby electricity poles stating, ‘Dumping or burning waste here is strictly prohibited. Offenders will be punished.’

Deteriorating pillars

Meanwhile, the 49th pillar of the aqueduct continues to deteriorate. The proposed reinforcement and protective wall remain confined to official assurances.

Concern centres on a 1.8-km stretch supported by more than 10 pillars. This stretch has become a dumping ground for plastic, glass and other waste.

Miscreants burn discarded material, consume alcohol, smash bottles against the pillars and burn copper cables to recover metal for sale at scrap yards, further weakening the structure. Cracks have widened on the pillars, worsened by intense heat from fires lit below, with reinforcement rods becoming visible as the concrete peels away.

Soil saturated

In several places, untreated sewage flows beneath the aqueduct, saturating the soil around its foundations, while leakage from the canal itself continues to waste irrigation water meant for farmers.

Farmers and residents fear that unless the damaged structure is reinforced without delay, the aqueduct could suffer irreversible damage, posing a serious threat to both agriculture and public safety.

The 126-km-long Varuna Canal was constructed over 13 years between 1987 and 2000. It includes three major aqueducts at Belagola in Mandya district, Siddalingapura on the Mysuru-Bengaluru Road and Gejjagalli on the Mysuru-Nanjangud Road.