The proposed Hale Unduwadi drinking water works projected to meet the city’s requirements for another 50 years, has received a fresh impetus as the officials have been directed to initiate the survey and land acquisition process.
This came up during the development review works pertaining to Mysuru in general and Chamundeshwari constituency in particular conducted by the Minister for Higher Education, G.T. Deve Gowda, on Tuesday.
The Minister said the original cost estimates of the project was pegged at ₹ 545 crore and the State government has allotted ₹ 50 crore towards it in the recent budget. This is an expression of intent and serious commitment to take up the project and the officials should go ahead with the survey works, said the Minister.
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The directives are significant as the land reckoned to be ideal for the project located at Hale Unduwadi in the upstream of the KRS backwaters, has already been sold by the KIADB in Mandya to a realtor for plot development. Though the issue has been raised with higher officials by the MUDA, sources said the realtor had a legally sound case but only a Cabinet decision to rescind the sale can help the MUDA in larger public interest.
But at Tuesday’s meeting the Minister told the officials not to be perturbed over such issues and instead initiate the land survey and acquisition process without any delay, thus hinting that the government would intervene to pave way for the project.
A proposal which is pending since many years, the Hale Unduwadi project can augment the water supply to the city and surrounding villages by nearly 300 MLD to 350 MLD which will suffice for the next 40 to 50 years.
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This was the first review meeting of Mr. Gowda after his re-election from Chamundeshwari constituency and was conducted at the Senate Bhavan of the University of Mysore.
The Minister also referred to the multi-village drinking water project launched a few years ago at Yelwal and complained to the officials that it had not benefited many villages as they were getting water once in two or three days.
The officials said the area was growing by leaps and bounds and the existing supply was inadequate to meet the needs of the growing population. Mr. Gowda said there can be no compromise on issues of drinking water and directed the officials to take up minor works to augment the supply if required.
There were also complaints of private layouts transferred by the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) to the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) not being provided water and power, with frequent interruptions. The Minister said it was for the MUDA to clear the dues if any and ensure that there was regular water and power supply to the public.