BENGALURU: Former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday urged the State Government not to make any changes to the Yettinahole project, which will provide drinking water to parts of Bengaluru Rural, Kolar and Chikkaballapur districts.
In a letter to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Kumaraswamy said that in 2014, approval was given for a reservoir with 5.78 tmcft storage capacity at Byragondlu in Koratagere taluk of Tumakuru district, but work is yet to start due to land acquisition issues.
He pointed out that to overcome the hurdle, officials have prepared an alternative proposal that will reduce the reservoir storage capacity from 5.78 tmcft to just 2 tmcft. This proposal is part of the revised project estimate of Rs 23,251 crore that is in the final stages of approval, he said and urged Bommai to drop any such move.
“Making changes at this stage will have an adverse impact on people and they may resort to protests. People will lose faith in the project due to frequent changes,” he said. The government should consider the farmers’ demands and acquire the land required for implementing the project without having to reduce the reservoir capacity. Yettinahole project was started in 2012 at an estimated cost of Rs 8,200 crore, he said.