D K Shivakumar.
Credit: DH Photo
Shidlaghatta (Chikkaballapur district): Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, also the Water Resources minister, on Monday accused the Centre of creating hurdles for the Yettinahole project.
"The twin districts of Kolar and Chikkaballapur supply fruits and flowers to the state. The farmers of the parched districts are carrying out farming by using the groundwater drawn from 2,000 feet. Ministers from the districts - Krishna Byre Gowda, K H Muniyappa and M C Sudhakar - are pressuring the govt to get Yettinahole water by 2027. Our government is also making sincere efforts to implement the project.
But the Ministry of Environment and Forests is creating hurdles... If things went as per plan, the Yettinahole water would have reached Hassan and Tumakuru by now," Shivakumar said speaking at an event to mark inauguration of works.
He urged the BJP MPs and union ministers from the state to get necessary clearance from the Centre.
Shivakumar said that filling up lakes and providing drinking water to people of the state is the sixth guarantee of the Congress government.