The third phase of the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) is expected set a new record in the country for having the provision of biggest land acquisition for any irrigation project in a single year.
As per the government notification, the Irrigation Department would be acquiring 66,253 acres. The government has already prepared a Rs. 1,500 crore action plan for 2015-16 for the project.
Under the third phase, the government is going to increase the height of Almatti dam from the present 519 metres to 524 metres. This is expected to submerge some 20 villages of Vijayapura and Bagalkot districts and ten wards of Bagalkot city.
For Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R), the government has proposed to acquire a total of 1,25,689 acres of land and over 26,000 buildings.
However, in a single year itself, the government plans to acquire the 66,253 acres after the Union government cleared the new land acquisition bill.
It may be noted that the land acquisition process got delayed following non-implementation of the new land acquisition policy by the Union government.
Meanwhile, official sources said that while primary notification has been issued by the government for the majority of land to be acquired, for the rest, the same process would be completed shortly.
The sources said that under the third phase, a total of nine irrigation projects would be taken up by using 177 tmc ft. of additional water given to Karnataka by the Krishna Water Dispute Tribunal in its final award.
The new projects and additional water would help in irrigating some six lakh hectares of North Karnataka region that include Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Koppal.
Meanwhile, land has been identified for relief and rehabilitation of the residents who would be relocated after the submergence of 20 villages.
The process of acquiring 1,650-acre land is almost over for rehabilitating the residents of 10 wards of Bagalkot city.
