Karnataka BJP government has now revised project estimate from Rs 8323 crore in 2012 to Rs 23251 crore by 2022
Updated: Fri, 12/16/22 at 5:40pm
Source: Down to Earth
Hyderabad: Just as the Telangana government is completing Kaleshwaram, the world’s largest tira irrigation project in about four years, the BJP-ruled government in neighboring Karnataka is working to complete the Yettinahole drinking water project conceived a decade ago. Also, the government has revised the estimated budget for the project from Rs 8,323 crore in 2012 to Rs 23,251 crore in 2022. Last week, the State Department approved the same plan.
The Yettinahole project proposes to extract 24 tmcft of water from the Yettinahole River in Sakleshpur, Hassan District. The project aims to solve the drinking water problem in parts of Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, Ramanagara and urban areas of Bengaluru. The Karnataka state government has cited various reasons for the delay in the project. “Project costs are rising due to high land acquisition costs. Acquisition costs have quadrupled and cost estimates are being revised for all projects in the state,” Law Minister JC Madhuswamy said, according to reports.
The project was first conceived in 2012, when the BJP was in power, and two years later, the Congress government revised the project cost to Rs 1,291,236 crore. And, now to 2022, the project cost increases to Rs 23,251 crore.
The government has to expropriate about 5,860 acres of land in Tumakuru and Doddaballapur taluks where an acre of land in Doddaballapur costs around Rs 8 lakh and in Tumakuru taluk only Rs 2 lakh per acre. However, Madhuswamy reportedly said that Tumakuru landowners are seeking equivalent compensation.
Even as excessive delays continue in Karnataka, the Kaleshwaram project in Telangana is being admired by many, including union ministers. In April last year, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said Telangana had successfully completed the construction of the Kaleshwaram Lifting Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) to address water issues and the results were impressive. During a show at the Sharm Shabad airport here, the union minister even said that prosperity in Telangana would lead to progress in the state.
