Seabird Naval Base, Solaris Chemitek Company will be major beneficiaries

Karwar: The government’s approval for Rs 158 crore vented barrage to be constructed on Gangavali river, in Ankola taluk, has brought smiles on the faces of people of Ankola and Karwar. The Cabinet approved the project at a meeting held in Bengaluru, recently.

The project has been prepared keeping growth of next 50 years in mind. Apart from Ankola and Karwar, more than 15 villages, which come between these two places, will get water throughout the year from this project. Seabird Naval Base and Solaris Chemitek Company will be the major individual beneficiaries.

Urban Water Supply & Drainage Board Executive Engineer Suresh said, the proposal for the project, estimated at Rs 158 crore was submitted to the government way back in 2015. The Seabird Naval Base is contributing Rs 75 crore, while Solaris Chemitek is contributing Rs 3 crore for the project. The remaining amount would be borne by the State government. The barrage had the capacity of storing 10,985 million litre of water. Its length was 188 metre and height 11 metre. There would be 11 steel gates and they would be opened when there was excess inflow. 

Suresh said, tender process would be initiated once the government give administrative approval for the project. The work on the project would begin in next four-five months. Ankola and Karwar had faced severe water crisis last summer. Water was stored in the river placing cement bags at a cost of Rs 10 lakh. The water scarcity would be solved after the construction of the vented barrage.

Speaking to reporters, MLA Satish Sail said, Seabird Naval Base was supplied with 5 MLD water now. The second phase of Naval Base has begun and around 10,000 families would be settled in the project area by 2023.

Therefore, the works to provide basic infrastructure facilities to them was going on in full swing. More than 48 MLD of water would be supplied to Naval Base once barrage was completed.