Upper Bhadra project gets Union finance ministry's nod for grant

Though the high-level committee by the Ministry of Jal Shakti cleared the proposal in February 2020, the matter was pending for approval with the Ministry of Finance

Karnataka water resources minister Govind Karjol announced on Thursday that the Union Ministry of Finance approved the state’s proposal to grant national project status to the Upper Bhadra project.

Karjol, who met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman here, told reporters that Sitharaman informed him about the financial approval. “Now the proposal will go to the Union Cabinet for final nod,” he said.

The Union cabinet is expected to take up the matter soon, Karjol said.

Karnataka has been asking the Centre to declare Upper Bhadra as a national project for a while. Though the high-level committee by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti cleared the proposal in February 2020, the matter was pending for approval with the Union Ministry of Finance.

The Centre is expected to contribute Rs 9,675.29 crore of the total of Rs 21,471 crore estimated expenditure, to create irrigation facilities in the Upper Bhadra project, as per the investment clearance accorded by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

In the first stage of the project, 17.40 tmcft of water would be lifted from river Tunga to the Bhadra reservoir as part of the lift irrigation scheme. The second stage will see lifting of 29.9 tmcft water from Bhadra reservoir to the tunnel near Ajjampura, in the Tungabhadra sub-basin. The project plans to bring water to 2,25,515 hectares by micro-irrigation in drought-prone districts of Chikmagalur, Chitradurga, Tumkur and Davangere.

The project also proposes to recharge ground water tables and provide drinking water by filling 367 tanks with six tmcft water in drought-prone taluks. The primary objective of the project, however, is to provide sustainable irrigation facility during the kharif season.

Talking about other river water projects, Karjol said he met with Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat to get permission for the Mekedatu project. According to Karjol, Shekhawat had been positively inclined about giving early clearances for Mahadayi project as well.

The state minister said he had also put in a request to get early gazette notification about the final award by Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal.