JOIN USThe State government will soon take up the Yettinahole project to slake the thirst of people in the five districts of Bangalore Rural, Chikkaballapur, Tumkur, Kolar and Ramanagar.
This was unanimously decided at a high level meeting of elected representatives of these districts and irrigation experts convened by Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda on Thursday.
The Yettinahole project, which is estimated to cost about Rs 7,000 crore, envisages to pump about 24 tmc ft of water from Yettinahole, a stream that joins Gundya (a tributary of River Netravathi).
“The project proposal will be brought before the Cabinet for approval at the earliest,” Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai said after the meeting. Almost all MLAs, MLCs and MPs from these districts, besides irrigation experts like G S Paramashivaiah and D S Desai attended the meeting held at the Vidhana Soudha.
These districts have been facing acute scarcity of water. Due to over-utilisation of underground water, the water table has depleted considerably.
The chief minister is learnt to have promised that the project proposal will be brought before the Cabinet in a month’s time and efforts will be made to commence work by March this year. A high level technical committee will be set up to ensure speedy implementation of the project, which is expected to take two years. The project aims to provide only drinking water in these districts.
The government will also explore the possibility of utilising water from the west flowing rivers as per the recommendation of the Paramashivaiah Committee. It will take steps to prepare a detailed project report in this regard. Utilisation of the west flowing rivers will be a long term plan, while Yettinahole is a short term one.
Union Ministers Veerappa Moily and K H Muniyappa promised to get all clearances from the Centre, including forest clearances at the earliest. They also promised to make efforts to get financial assistance for the project.