CHITRADURGA: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Wednesday announced that the high-powered committee of the Centre gave national project status to the Upper Bhadra Project on Tuesday. Bommai said this is the first project in the state to get the status and this will change the irrigation scenario of
central Karnataka.
“The national project tag will help us in getting Rs 12,500 crore from the Centre and speed up the ambitious irrigation project that will transform central Karnataka from being water scarce to water rich,” he said.
Recollecting the timeline of the project, he said, “It was former CM BS Yediyurappa who assigned me the task of making Karnataka water rich by utilising the excess water available in Krishna and Cauvery basins effectively. We also took up the Upper Bhadra Project in 2009. Water is now flowing to Vani Vilas Sagar Dam, which has made the region water rich.”
He added that the government is committed to protect its water rights. “We will also start water conservation programmes to help the state have bountiful resources,” he added. Bommai thanked PM Narendra Modi and Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for giving the national project status to the Upper Bhadra Project.