HASSAN: The Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Supply Project, an inter-basin water transfer initiative, is stuck because of lack of environmental clearance and alleged fund crunch.
The first phase of the project was launched by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar near Hebbabahalli in Sakleshpur on September 6, 2024. The project is now delayed due to lack of forest clearance for a 7km-long canal near Halebid in Hassan district.
The project cost has now ballooned to Rs 23,251 crore from an initial estimate of 12,912.36 crore after getting revised four times so far.
The project is aimed at mitigating drinking water scarcity in 6,657 villages and 38 towns of seven drought-prone districts, including Hassan, Tumakuru, Chitradurga, Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagar and Bengaluru Rural.
The project aims to divert floodwaters amounting to 24.1 tmcft from the Western Ghats through Kadumanehole, Kirehole, Yettinahole and Hongadahalla, all tributaries of the Netravathi.
The project has two stages. Lifting and construction of weirs and storage tanks in the first stage, and the construction of the distribution canal and balancing reservoirs in the second stage.
According to officials, over 80 percent of gravity main canal work and 97 percent of feeders have been completed. As per the project report, water will be pumped from eight weirs up to 34 km from where water will reach Lakkehahalli in Tumakuru with a distance of 260 km through gravitation.
The project was met with resistance by environmentalists for its alleged impact on biodiversity and threat of increasing landslides. Locals are against land acquisition in Koratagere in Tumakuru district.
According to Venkatesh, executive engineer, the construction of eight weirs and nine pump houses has been completed. A trial run was conducted up to 34 km in the first phase.
Recent reports say water yield is 18 tmcft with a shortfall of 6 tmcft. There is a debate over the availability of water and many have expressed doubt about lifting 24 tmcft even during monsoon.
But the government is still confident of diverting 24 tmcft of water as per the DPR. The government is now making diversion strategies to meet the target, sources said.
HP Mohan, a prominent coffee grower and former district forest warden in Hemmige, said the project cost has doubled in a decade.
Umesh, a green activist, said man-animal conflicts have increased in the wake of the Yettinahole project.
Brushing aside the naysayers, the DCM says the state is committed to dedicate the project by March 2027.