Siddaramaiah to inaugurate Yettinahole project on September 6

The Yettinahole project, which aims to provide water to seven parched districts in central and south Karnataka, will be dedicated to the public on the Gowri Habba day, on September 6, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Sunday. 

The chief minister will inaugurate the much-awaited project on September 6 the day on which Gowri Habba falls. This is a festival gift to the people of Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Hassan, Ramanagara and Bengaluru Rural districts. Many leaders from across the party lines have fought for this project. I had taken up this project as a challenge in the last one year and completed the works on a war footing, Shivakumara, who also holds the Water Resources portfolio, told reporters here.

The previous Congress government, led by Siddaramaiah, had accorded an administrative approval for Rs 12,912.36 crore project, formulated to mitigate water woes in seven parched districts, in 2014, Shivakumar said. Shivakumar said that some issues over acquisition of land, including forest land had hindered the progress of the project. “Once the issues are sorted out, water will flow into the canals and to the Vani Vilas Sagar dam. Currently, water is being lifted from seven weirs (check dams).

Project cost escalation

The cost of the project, which hopes to provide 24.01 tmcft of water to address acute drinking water shortage in seven central and south districts, has shot up to Rs 23,251 crore.

The project proposal comprises two components namely drinking water and tank filling. The main idea of the project is to take care of the drinking water needs of the identified areas (38 towns and over 6,600 villages in 29 taluks).

It is observed and established that the total quantum of water required for drinking water component (considering the projected population as on 2023-24) is about 15.029 tmcft, including augmentation of TG Halli and Hesarghatta reservoirs and drinking water supply to Devanahalli industrial area and surrounding areas.  9.9 tmcft to fill 507 tanks and ponds in the region.