Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar addresses a press meet on Yettinahole project in Bengaluru on Monday. Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta, and BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath are seen.
Credit: DH Photo/ S K Dinesh
Bengaluru: The countdown to the inauguration of the first phase of the ambitious Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Supply Project having begun – Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is slated to inaugurate it on September 6 – Deputy CM D K Shivakumar on Monday said that the ambitious initiative would be completed by 2027.
Once inaugurated, water from the Western Ghats will flow into the Vani Vilas Sagar Dam, 132 km away, said Shivakumar. The second phase of the project entails supplying water to Tumakuru district, 140km away; Shivakumar said that the government is hoping to complete work on the second phase within the next four months.
“CM Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the project at 12.05pm, and offer pooja on the occasion of the Gowri Ganesha festival. Other ministers will inaugurate other segments of the project earlier in the day, around 10.30am,” Shivakumar said.
The state government plans to pump 5 tmcft of water to Vani Vilas Sagar Dam by November 1, said Shivakumar. Given that the project requires 502 acres of forest land, the state government would hand over 452 acres of revenue land in compensation to the forest department, he said. “Whatever work is pending in the second phase of the project will be completed in four months,” he added.
Shivakumar said that project entails supplying 24tmcft of water from the Western Ghats to seven districts, including Tumakuru, Chikkaballapura and Kolar.
He said that a Dam Safety Committee headed by former chairman of the Central Water Commission A K Bajaj had been constituted to inspect the safety and stability of all the reservoirs in state, and submit a report.
“The committee held a meeting at the Tungabhadra Dam,” Shivakumar said.
“We have instructed the committee to initiate any urgent work required to fix the dams without awaiting instructions from the department,” he added.