Siddaramaiah refuses to set deadline for completion of Yettinahole project

Bengaluru, Mar 7: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday refused to set any deadline to complete the work on the much-delayed Yettinahole project, to provide drinking water to five districts.

He also announced setting up of an experts' committee to explore the possibility of bringing water from various sources including Sharavathi in Linganamakki, Krishna basin, Mekedatu and the Koramangala-Challaghatta valley of Bengaluru to the water-parched districts around Bengaluru.

A committee of subject experts set up by the BWSSB had suggested the government to bring water of Sharavathi river to Bengaluru.

The chief minister has announced setting up of an exclusive board to monitor irrigation and water projects in the plain land and central Karnataka regions - Bayaluseeme and Madhyama Karnataka Nigama - and two committees for monitoring the Yettinahole project.

While one committee on the Yettinahole would comprise officials of various departments for better coordination to expedite the work, another panel would have non-officials.

These announcements were made by Siddaramaiah on Sunday at a meeting with representatives of farmers and politicians, including MLAs and MPs.

The exercise was to address concerns over the delay in implementation of the Yettinahole project.

On Thursday last, farmers had held a massive protest in Bengaluru to express their displeasure over the delay in implementation of the project, which aims at providing only drinking water to parts of Hassan, Tumakuru, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural and Ramanagaram districts.

Siddaramaiah said, “I cannot set a deadline to complete the work because it is a mega project. The NDA?government at the Centre had changed the land acquisition norms, which led to a delay of one year.”

Top priority for Kolar

The chief minister said efforts would be made to release funds as much as possible for this Rs 12,960-crore project. So far Rs 1,690 crore has been spent. Kolar district would get top priority during the distribution of water, followed by Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural and Tumakuru.

Replying to questions raised in the meeting, he said Yettinahole would not be part of the Netravathi diversion scheme. Experts from Isro, IISc and other organisations have confirmed water availability in Yettinahole to supply 24 tmc ft.

Congress MP from Chikkaballapur, M Veerappa Moily, did not sit through the meeting as he had other engagements. Congress MP from Kolar, K?H Muniyappa, attended the meeting.

After the meeting, farmers' leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar said the government had promised that land acquisition would commence soon. K?S?Manjunath Gowda, JD(S)?MLA from Malur, said the government had promised to implement the project in two years.

“It has become a daily struggle to get drinking water in Kolar. How should we manage,” he asked.