Minister for Minor Irrigation, Law and Parliamentary Affairs T.B. Jayachandra has said that the State government would take appropriate legal action against those responsible for the irregular practices in the implementation of the Holalur lift irrigation project in the district. The tender for the work was awarded in August 2007. According to terms of the contract, the work was to be completed by August 2010. Under the project, water will be lifted from the Tungabhadra river near Holalur village and supplied to Naranayanakere, Seegehallikere, Budigere, and Suttukote tanks through pipeline to provide drinking water for the people there and enhance the ground water level in the region. In addition to this, 500 hectares in Haramaghatta, Sominakoppa, Aladahalli, Suttukote, Bannikere, and Kommanalu villages will be irrigated from the project. The farmers in Holalur and surrounding villages had staged a protest recently against the delay in completion of the project and had submitted a memorandum to Mr. Jayachandra in this regard.
In wake of the complaint from the farmers on substandard works, Mr. Jayachandra visited the project site in Holalur on Tuesday. Speaking to presspersons later, he said that, as prima facie it appears that substandard works were executed here, a panel comprising senior officials from the Department of Minor Irrigation has been formed to probe into the issue.
The project was estimated to cost Rs. 7.05. The delay in completion of the works resulted in escalation of the project cost. The State government has so far spent an amount of Rs. 13 crore for it but the project is yet to be commissioned, he said.
When the water was released along the pipeline recently on trial basis, many leakage points were identified, he said, adding that the private engineering firm that has executed the work will be blacklisted. An amount of Rs. 1.5 crore deposited by the firm with the State government will be forfeited, he said, adding that stern action will be initiated against the engineers of the department who have failed to properly monitor the implementation of the work, he said. The implementation of Holalur lift irrigation project was a long pending demand of the people of the region. The State government will take measures for completion of the pending works related to the project in three months, he said.
