SAKLESHPUR: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar dedicated the first-phase of the long-pending Rs 23,251.66-crore Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Supply Project to the state here on Friday. In the works for a decade, the much-awaited project was launched at 12.46 pm at Hebbanahalli in Sakleshpur taluk after an hour-long ritual followed by Vaastu pooja.
After performing ‘homa’ and ‘poornahuti’ rituals before the launch of the project, Shivakumar termed it a “historic and auspicious” day for Karnataka. “One of the biggest drinking water projects in the state in recent years, it is aimed at providing water to parched areas in seven districts. The project is prestigious and challenging, and the state government is taking all steps to complete it by 2027,” he told reporters.
The minister said 50 per cent of the project will be completed this year, and efforts are also on to draw additional water from the area and store more water to meet meet the demands in parched areas. “The government did not implement the project in the interests of a particular community or region. Everyone will benefit from the project. The challenge was huge as the government had to ensure that the water reached the tailend as per plan,” he said.
The project will help improve the groundwater table in parched areas, he said, adding that the government has brought a law restricting people from drawing water from the canal using motor pumps. Taking opposition parties to task for allegedly neglecting the project during their tenure, Shivakumar said he will only concentrate on success of the project.
The project envisages lifting 24.01 tmcft of water, available during the monsoon, from Yettinahole, Kudumanehole, Kirehole and Hongadahalla in the Western Ghats.
The main purpose is to mitigate the acute shortage of drinking water in 29 taluks, 38 towns, and 6,657 villages in seven districts -- Hassan, Tumakuru, Kolar, Chikkamagaluru, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, and Ramanagara.
Of the 24.01 tmcft of water, 14.056 tmcft will be utilised for drinking purposes and 9.953 tmcft for filling 527 major and minor tanks. This will help 75.59 lakh people in the region.
The project was started in 2014 and is likely to be completed by 2027. The total length of the gravity canal is 252.61 km, of which 164.47 km has been completed, and work on 25.87 km is in progress.
The commissioning test, launched by the DyCM, was conducted recently. The water was pumped to eight weirs, from where it will be lifted to three delivery chambers and supplied to the gravity canal. The government has spent over Rs 16,000 crore so far for the first phase. Siddaramaiah laid the foundation stone for the project in 2014, and inaugurated it after 10 years.
Traditional rituals
A group of seven priests, led by chief priest Shashikiran Deekshit, from Chamundeshwari Temple in Mysuru, performed 17 different poojas on Thursday night till Friday morning. Shivakumar, decked in traditional attire (silk shirt and dhoti), performed pooja following the direction of the chief priest.
All the buzz
“Why are you losing your temper Muniyappa?” asks Chief Minister Siddaramaiah when the Congress leader objected to the CM for not highlighting his name among those who worked for the Yettinahole project. “Shall I say your name once again?” Siddaramaiah says.
The tent erected for dignitaries to offer bagina collapses before the event due to strong wind. However, there were not injuries.
A group of priests, led by Shashishekar Dikshit, chief priest of Chamundeshwari temple in Mysuru, performs 17 poojas for the success of the project
Siddaramaiah lauds his deputy Shivakumar for performing pooja and rituals in traditional attire during the inaugural of of the project
