BENGALURU: Faced with land acquisition problems for the Byragondlu (in Tumakuru) reservoir, which is part of the Yettinahole project, the State Government has decided to reduce the reservoir capacity from 10 tmcft to 2 tmcft. Water Resources Minister Govind Karjol, however, said this will not impact the project and it will be able to provide water to all the areas as planned earlier.
Responding to concerns raised by opposition MLCs that many areas in Kolar will not get water if the capacity is reduced, Karjol said after elected representatives insisted that the project be started without any delay, they prepared an alternative proposal with 2 tmcft reservoir capacity and a revised estimate of Rs 23,251 crore. The Finance Department is now looking into it, he added.
Explaining the challenges in land acquisition, he said they require 12,857 acres of which 11,747 acres are from farmers, 118 forest land and 992 acres of government land. The difficulty is that land that has to be acquired from farmers is spread in two taluks — Koratagere and Doddaballapur — and guidance value in both places is different. The compensation is given based on the guidance value and it is not possible to give the same compensation in different places as it will impact projects across the state, he said.
Congress and JDS MLCs expressed concern over the delay in taking up the project to provide drinking water to Hassan, Chikkamagalur, Tumakuru, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Chikkaballapur and Kolar. The project cost in 2014 was Rs 12,912.36 crore and it has now increased to Rs 23,251 crore.