BENGALURU: The irrigation department needs Rs 87,818 crore for the Upper Krishna project as per the estimate done by former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai and the cost would go up if the estimate is done now, said Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar.
He said Upper Krishna has to be designated as a national project and sought the support of BJP members at the Legislative Council on Thursday.
Shivakumar, who is also Major and Medium Irrigation Minister, in his reply to MLC P H Poojar, who had asked if the process of acquiring land for the third phase of the project has begun, said, “The budget of both the major and minor irrigation departments is Rs 22,000 crore. However, the state is committed to completing the project.”
Sharing details of land acquisition, Shivakumar said, “Already, 75,563 acres of acquired land were submerged with 2,543 acres under progress. Over 29,500 acres of land are in various stages and 43,452 acres need to be acquired. We need 6,467 acres for rehabilitation, of which 50 per cent ie. 3,392 acres have been acquired. Of this, 2,600 acres are in various stages and 471 acres are pending.”
He said 1,33,867 acres are required for the construction of a canal network and of this, 51,000 acres have already been acquired and the government has 22,962 acres of land in various stages.
Shivakumar told Poojar, who raised an objection to the allocation of only 5 per cent to the project, that the credit for raising the most questions related to the project should go to the MLC. “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has agreed to land acquisition in one go. You (Poojar) are picking a fight with us...”
He sought the support of the opposition BJP members to convince the BJP-led Union government to declare Upper Krishna as a national project.
Varahi project will be completed soon: DKS
When MLC Manjunath Bhandari questioned the DCM on the status of the Varahi Project, Shivakumar said, “It took 26 years from 1979 to 2005 to get a letter of understanding from the central pollution control board after which the project got life. Steps will be taken to complete the work as soon as possible. Water is flowing only on the left bank of Varahi.”
He said land acquisition is one of the major issues and stated that officials came up with the project in 1979 without knowing the forest policies. Shivakumar told the House that they need Rs 73,000 crore just for land acquisition.
While the total budget of major and minor irrigation projects is Rs 22,000 crore, Shivakumar said works to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh crore are going on. He assured the House of visiting the project site along with Bhandari.