Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (MS)

Bengaluru, Jan 2: Yettinahole project that was planned in order to supply drinking water to district of plains of the state is virtually in doldrums now. Decades have passed since the project began and the cost of the project has more than doubled due to the inordinate delay.

The cost of the project which was estimated to be Rs 8,000 crore in the beginning will cost Rs 20,000 to the state exchequer. This project was initially planned in 2008 by the then BJP government at a cost of Rs 8,000 crore. However, the work of the project did not see any progress during the five year rule of BJP. The Congress government, led by Siddaramaiah, which took over the reins from BJP, revised the project and it was estimated to cost Rs 13,000 crore. Work related to the project also started during the Congress rule.

Yettinahole project (file photo)

Though tender has been called, two years ago, for the Byragondlu dam, which the epicenter of the project, work has not yet started. This dam is situated at the border of Koratagere taluk of Tumkur district and has got a storing capacity of seven TMC of water. Till this dam is not built, the Yettinahole project will not see the light of day as the water from Yettinahole, which is flowing westward now needs to be diverted to Byragondlu dam, which is at a distance of 260 km, through canals and from there it will be supplied to water bodies of the districts of Kolar and Chikkaballapur.

As the governments got changed, the Yettinahole project also got changed. Now it is decided to supply drinking water to districts of Hassan, Tumakuru, Ramanagara and Bengaluru rural in addition to the earlier decision of supplying drinking water only to Kolar and Chikkaballapur. That is why the project has not only got delayed, but its cost has risen to astronomical levels.

There is confusion with regards to providing compensation to the farmers of Doddaballapur of Bengaluru rural district and Koratagere taluk of Tumkur district, who will lose 2,500 acres each of their land for the construction of Byragondlu dam. The rate of land has gone up three times compared to that of 2013, when the land was planned to be acquired for the project. So the project cost will cross Rs 20,000 crore.

Giving details of the chaos that is prevailing in the land acquisition for the construction of Byragondlu dam, N Laxmanrao Peshwe, managing director of Vishweshwara Water Corporation said, "The chaos have occurred as the farmers from Korategere are demanding same rate for their land as given to the farmers of Doddaballapur district. The government is ready to oblige to the demands of Korategere farmers, provided, they accept the compensation now as per the index prices and later apply for further compensation through court."