To complete its ambitious Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Project at the earliest, the government has approved a proposal to acquire 255.05 hectares of land needed for it directly from farmers.
Land acquisition was a major hurdle in expediting the project and there was no legal provision for direct purchase of land. However, for speedy implementation of the project, the Cabinet took a decision to consider Yettinahole as “special project” and decided to acquire land directly from farmers under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, M.B. Patil, Minister for Water Resources, has said.
The Rs. 12,912.36-crore flagship project of Krishna Neeravari Nigam Ltd. proposes to transport 24.01 tmcft of water from Yettinahole, a west-flowing stream near Sakleshpur in Hassan district, through hardened steel pipe and open canal running to a distance of 274 km.
Work on seven of the eight weirs (barriers across a river designed to alter its flow characteristics) and eight of the nine pump houses is under progress.
Besides providing a permanent solution to drinking water shortage in the six districts — Kolar, Chickballapur, Ramanagaram, Tumakuru, Bengaluru Rural, and Hassan districts — this project is meant to facilitate filling of 527 tanks using 8.96 tmcft of water. The project, however, has been seeing opposition from environmentalists in coastal Karnataka.
