UKP Phase-III: Cabinet sub-committee to study ground realities

A Cabinet sub-committee on December 4 and 5 will visit the villages, in Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts, to be submerged under the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) Phase - III to assess the ground reality and decide on the compensation and rehabilitation package.

Water Resouces Minister M B Patil made the announcement in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday while replying to a discussion on UKP-III, which is set to irrigate 6.19 lakh hectares in North Karnataka.

Patil said about 1.33 lakh acres will have to be acquired for the project and people residing in 22 villages will have to be rehabilitated.

He said following the new Land Acquisition Act, the cost estimate of the project has shot up to Rs 51,148.94 crore, a three-time jump from the earlier estimate of Rs 17,602 crore.

Patil said that the new Land Acquisition Act stipulates that landlosers will have to be paid four times the guidance value of the land.

"However, there is a lot of variation in guidance value. While in one village the guidance value is Rs four lakh per acre, the adjacent village the value is Rs 20 lakh. The Cabinet committee will visit the locations that will be submerged and interact with people and assess the situation before fixing a base price, " Patil said.

Senior ministers Kagodu Thimmappa, H K Patil, T B Jayachandra are among the members of the Cabinet panel.