On the eve of the inauguration of the long-awaited Yettinahole drinking water project, BJP MLC C.T. Ravi expressed doubts on the real worth of the project while stating that it would not yield the quantum of water that is being projected by the government.
He urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to constitute a committee led by a High Court judge to conduct a comprehensive study of the worth of the project with the involvement of research organisations.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, Mr. Ravi alleged that though scientific institutions had made it clear that the project would yield only three to four tmcft of water, the government had taken it up only to benefit contractors on the basis of a private report that had projected availability of 24 tmcft of water.
He said as per the report of scientific organisations, the actual availability of water from the flow in the streams was only 8.85 tmcft of which only three to four tmcft could be lifted for consumption. Pointing out that the project size had escalated to ₹23,251 crore of which the State had already spent ₹16,076 crore, he said it had started to appear that the project cost was much higher than the actual benefits from it.
Pointing out that the government had envisaged supplying drinking water to 75 lakh people in 6,657 villages and 38 towns besides filling 527 tanks while initiating the project, he demanded clarification on whether it would be possible to still supply water to these many people.
Published - September 05, 2024 10:26 pm IST
