Upper Bhadra: Farmers consent to give land

The farmers of the district have given their consent to continue with the work on Upper Bhadra Project (UBP) on their land which have not been acquired for the project.

A meeting of the farmers and the officials of UBP held under the leadership of MLA Thippareddy here on Thursday turned successful with the farmers unanimously declaring that they were ready to part with their land for water.

Work began in April

The first phase of the UBP is nearing completion and construction of the canal has been taken up in Hiriyur, Chitradurga and Challakere taluks. The work on packages 10, 11 and 12 began in April first week.

However, the land identified for the canal is yet to be acquired and even the compensation for the said land had not been fixed. Some farmers, fearing that they would lose land, had obstructed the canal work and this had become a bone of contention between landowners and project officials.

In the meeting, the farmers sought the officials to arrive at compensation in a scientific manner. The officials of the Irrigation department told the farmers that land acquisition and fixing compensation comes under the Revenue department.

The canal being constructed under package 10 extends from Hiriyur to Doddasiddavvanahalli in Chitradurga taluk. The work is expected to begin after the model code of conduct for Lok Sabha elections is lifted.

The government has set a two-year deadline for completion fo this work. Chitradurga taluk will get water under the project if all the three packages are completed at a time, within two years.