New Delhi: With complaints that the Yettinahole project had caused destruction of ecology in the Western Ghats, the Union Ministry of Environment has sought a status report from the state about the project, including damage caused to the environment.
The ministry decided to seek a status report after media reports that the project had not yielded desired results, despite spending a huge amount of money. Besides, while executing the project, large-scale environmental damage had been caused and in several places, landslides were reported (mostly in Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan district), reports said.
The ministry, in its communication to Karnataka, also sought additional information about the use of 26 acres of forest land to construct the main canal in Gubbi taluk of Tumakuru district.
As per the original plan, 1,200 acres of land was required for the project, of which around 50% was forest land.
However, the ministry expressed dismay that the state government sent separate proposals for every work for forest clearance, instead of submitting a comprehensive proposal for the entire project.
Earlier, the ministry had asked the state to submit details about the reported construction of the project outside the approved area in the forest region. Despite the ministry seeking clarification about this, the state government did not respond, the Centre said in its communication.
The ministry also asked the state to submit details about compensatory forest area and its status. It also sought details about the steps taken to mitigate the damage to wildlife due to the project. The Yettinahole lift irrigation project aims to divert 24.01 tmc ft of surplus water from west-flowing streams of Western Ghats to provide drinking water to 6,557 villages and 38 towns in 29 taluks of seven drought-prone districts of Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, Tumakuru, Ramanagar and Bengaluru Rural.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah inaugurated the first phase of the project on September 6.