Bengaluru: The forest department has agreed to forsake 500 acres of land that is critical for the progress of the Yettinahole drinking water project, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar announced on Thursday.
Shivakumar, the water resources minister, chaired a meeting with Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda and Karnataka' special representative to New Delhi TB Jayachandra to review the languishing project.
"For the 500 acres that the forest department will hand over, the revenue department will give an equal area. The process will be completedd soon," Shivakumar said.
The Yettinahole project aims to draw 24 tmcft of water from the Yettinahole river in Sakleshpur taluk in Hassan district to meet the drinking water demands of Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Tumakuru, Ramanagara and some parts of Bangalore Urban districts. When the project was first approved more than a decade ago, it was estimated to cost Rs 8,323 crore. The cost was revised to Rs 12,912.36 crore in 2014. Now, the project is pegged at Rs 23,251 crore.
"In this project, there were some issues involving 20 places belonging to the forest department across 260 km. We need the forest department's permission and we discussed that," Shivakumar said. "We conducted a joint survey involving the forest and revenue departments. The issues are now resolved. Work will start soon," he said.
Shivakumar said compensation of Rs 51 crore has to be provided to farmers in some places. Of that, Rs 10 crore has been released. "There are differences between the forest and revenue departments over compensation. This will be discussed in the Cabinet meeting," he said.
A balancing reservoir in Doddaballapura taluk is pending, Shivakumar said, adding that preparations are on to start the work. "In the first phase, water will be pumped to a distance of 48 km by next month. A technical committee has been formed to explore using water currently flowing into the sea,” he said.
'No info on BSY case'
Reacting to the arrest warrant issued to former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa for allegedly sexually harassing a minor girl, Shivakumar said that he has no information about the case.
On the murder case in which Sandalwood actor Darshan is under arrest, Shivakumar said no one had contacted him seeking interference. "I got information through media that a minister is trying to put pressure in Darshan's case. I'll verify it," he said.