The State government has designated Yettinahole project as Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Scheme in order to avail funding from the Central schemes and extrernal lending agencies such as the Asian Development Bank, World Bank and Japan International Cooperation Agency, Water Resources Minister M B Patil said on Monday.

Speaking to reporters, he said the government was planning to raise about Rs 7,800 crore for the project from various sources, including external lending agencies.

The full-fledged work on the project, foundation for which was laid just before the recently concluded parliamentary elections, will start in about two weeks, he added.

The project envisages supply of water to the parched districts of Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore Urban, Ramanagar and Tumkur.

The government is also planning to fill up lakes in these districts for drinking water purpose.

About 24 tmc ft of water will be drawn from Yettinahole, a tributary of River Nethravathy. The project is estimated to cost about Rs 10,000 crore.

However, it has met with a lot of opposition from people of Dakshina Kannada district where it is feared that Nethravathy river would dry up if the project is implemented. The river is the lifeline for the people of the district.

Patil further said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will soon convene a meeting of elected repersentatives from Dakshina Kannada and various other stakeholders to discuss the project. Efforts will be made to clear all their doubts on the project, he added.

On doubts raised on the yield of the project, the minister said the National Institute of Hydrology has confirmed that the yield of 23.76 tmc once it is implemented.

The government has sought the opinion of Urban Development and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj departments on modifying the project’s feasibility report, he added.

Water for Hubli-Dharwad

He said the government was planning to seek the permission of Mahadayi Water Disputes Tribunal to make use of 7.64 tmc ft of Mahadayi water for drinking water purpose.

The then government in 2006 had filed an affidavit before the Tribunal that water will not be diverted. So the permission is necessary, he added.

He said the new states of Telangana and Seemandhra will not lead to any problem as far as utilisation of Krishna river water is concerned.

The two states will have to share whatever has been allotted to the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh, he said.

He said the head of the legal team representing the State's river water-sharing issues in the Supreme Court, Fali S Nariman, has arrived in Bangalore on a private visit.

A meeting will be held with him to discuss various legal issues in a day or two, he added.