CHITRADURGA: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will announce the ambitious Upper Bhadra Project (UBP) as a national project after a discussion at the next Union cabinet meeting. With this, the project will get Rs 20,000 crore from the Centre and will gain pace, the Chief Minister added. Addressing the public after laying the foundation stone for filling up of Dharmapura and other lakes and other development works at Hariyabbe village, he said the state has provided all documents requested by the Union government and now the stage is set for the announcement of UBP as a national project.
Bommai said UBP is a long-pending demand of the people of Chitradurga, for which they staged a 543-day relay hunger strike. “Finally, it was in 2008, when I was the water resources minister, that my mentor BS Yediyurappa not only allocated the funds and also called for tenders within 15 days of approval. I am happy that both the major irrigation projects, Yettinahole and UBP, started during my tenure,” he said.
The Rs 90 crore lake-filling programme will make the region more prosperous, he said, and announced that Rs 50 crore of second installment funds will be released within a week.
Industrial townships
Stressing the need for an all-round development of the state, he said North Karnataka region should be industrialised and industrial townships are being planned in Chitradurga, Davanagere, Belagavi and Dharwad districts that come under the Chennai-Mumbai industrial corridor.The Chief Minister said Chitradurga Deputy Commissioner Kavitha S Mannikeri has been directed to hand over 1,000 acres of land to the industries department for setting up industries. “Also, work on the long-pending Tumakuru to Davangere direct railway line will begin shortly,” he added.
“With agriculture becoming difficult, there is a need to create alternative income opportunities for the youth. The government is training them in different skills to prepare them to face the intensely competitive world. Immediately after assuming charge of the state, I announced the Raitha Vidyanidhi programme which benefitted as many as 8 lakh children of farmers. This year it will be extended to 14 lakh children,” Bommai added.