The ongoing work on the first phase of the Upper Bhadra Project, which will irrigate over one lakh acres of arid land in Chitradurga district and 10,000 acres of land in Tumkur district, is expected to be completed by 2013, according to Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Mr. Bommai told reporters in Bangalore on Tuesday that the Government aims at completing the second phase of the project, the civil work on which is yet to commence, by 2013-14.
He said the first phase would also help fill up more than 50 tanks in Chitradurga district. This would help raise the groundwater table, among other things, he noted.
The second phase would provide drinking water to Tumkur and Kolar districts.
He denied reports that the government had violated norms by awarding tenders for the Upper Bhadra Project without getting Cabinet clearance for its revised cost.
He pointed out that the S.M. Krishna government had provided administrative approval for the project in August 2003, and tenders had been invited for the project in December 2006 when Mr. Kumaraswamy was the Chief Minister.
Approval for the revised Detailed Project Report amounting to Rs. 5,985 crore had been given during President's Rule in the State.
He maintained that the B.S. Yeddyurappa government had not altered the nature of the project or its financial estimates. The BJP government awarded the package-2 of the above project to RNS-Jyothi Joint Venture as per the recommendation of the Technical Scrutiny Committee of Karnataka Neeravari Nigam Ltd. after getting Cabinet clearance, he said.
Project in the ‘news'
It may be noted that the project was in the news recently in the wake of the Lokayukta conducting an inquiry into the allegations that a trust owned by the family members of Mr. Yeddyurappa got donations from the above firm in return for official favours shown to it.
