VIJAYAPURA: One of the major stumbling blocks in completing the Rs.70,000 crore, third phase of the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) is land acquisition.
In September 2025, the state government decided to pay Rs. 30 lakh per acre for dry land and Rs. 40 lakh per acre for irrigated land to farmers as compensation for land to be acquired. Despite this, work on the project is yet to gather pace.
The Upper Krishna Project (UKP) was conceived in 1964 as a multi-stage programme to harness the Krishna for irrigation, drinking water and power generation in the drought-prone districts of north Karnataka. The project revolves around a vast network of dams, reservoirs and canals, with Almatti dam as its keystone structure.
The Phase-III of the project aims to increase the dam’s Full Reservoir Level (FRL) from 519.60 meters to 524.256 meters. Officials estimate the additional storage of around 100 tmc ft could irrigate nearly six lakh hectares (about 15 lakh acres) across Vijayapura, Bagalkot and neighbouring districts.
At present, the existing storage supports irrigation to roughly three lakh hectares, meaning the project could nearly double the irrigated command area once completed.
The benefits come with heavy social costs. To execute the UKP-III, the government must acquire approximately 1.33 lakh acres of land. Of this, more than 75,000 acres will be submerged after the reservoir level rises, while additional land is required for canals and rehabilitation colonies. Around 20 villages and parts of certain town areas are expected to be affected, displacing thousands of families and transforming local economies built over generations.
Successive governments attempted to push the project forward, but progress remained uneven. Earlier compensation packages were considered inadequate, leading to protests and litigation.
Rising land prices further escalated costs, making land acquisition the most expensive component of the scheme. Inter-state concerns, particularly objections from Maharashtra, also contributed to delays, as projects on interstate rivers often involve political and legal complexities.
Officials believe that a uniform and higher compensation will encourage farmers to part with land, enabling construction to proceed without prolonged disputes. Compensation is expected to be disbursed over three financial years, with a dedicated authority under the Land Acquisition Act, 2013, to oversee rehabilitation and payments.
At the same time, the state government has been pressing the Centre to issue a gazette notification permitting increase in the dam’s height. Karnataka maintains that without this notification, the reservoir level cannot be raised and the additional water allocated by the tribunal cannot be officially utilized for irrigation. The delay in issuing the notification has become another major bottleneck in completing the project.
Despite this, groundwork undertaken in earlier years has positioned the state to move quickly once approval is granted. There is already an extensive canal network intended to distribute irrigation water across north Karnataka. Though the network cannot yet be fully used for irrigation due to the pending gazette notification, it is currently being used to fill hundreds of tanks in Vijayapura district. Since there is no restriction on using canal water to replenish tanks, this arrangement has helped provide drinking water and limited irrigation support in drought years.
Once the dam height is raised and the notification issued, the same canal network can be used to irrigate vast agricultural areas.
The government views the project as essential for long-term agricultural stability in north Karnataka, a region frequently affected by erratic rainfall and drought. Assured irrigation could enable multiple cropping seasons, improved yields and higher farmer incomes, while also boosting rural employment and allied industries.
Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar has stated that canal works and preliminary activities have begun in some areas and will continue alongside land acquisition.
The government has set a tentative completion timeline of about three years after substantial acquisition is completed. If executed on schedule and supported by timely approvals, the project could become fully operational before the end of the decade.