Hassan, Aug 29 (IANS): Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Wednesday said that the experimental operation of the Yettinahole drinking water project has been successful and the project will be inaugurated soon.
“Yettinahole is an ambitious project. I flagged off the experimental operation today. The work is now complete albeit with a delay of a few months,” said Shivakumar - who also holds the irrigation portfolio - while inspecting the Yettinahole project at Kasavanahalli in Hassan district.
He said that the Yettinahole project will provide 24.01 TMC of drinking water to Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagar, Tumakuru, Hassan and Chikkamagalur districts.
“As many as 75.59 lakh people in 38 towns and 6,657 villages in 29 taluks will benefit from this project while 527 tanks in the seven districts will be filled with 9.953 TMC of water. The project which cost Rs 23,251 crore was delayed due to electrical glitches,” the Irrigation Minister said.
He added that five of the eight barrages (viyars) have been completed while around 1,500 cusecs of water have been lifted in the experimental operation.
“It will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister before the water levels drop. I came to see in person the completion of work,” the Deputy Chief Minister said.
He said that in the project, 1,571 cusecs of water will be lifted from barrages 1,2,4,5 and 8 and supplied to barrage 3, adding that the water from barrage 3 will be supplied to barrage 4 through gravitational force.
“The project is 252.87 km long, of which 164 km of work has been completed. Work on the 25.87 km canal is in progress. The works after 42nd km were affected due to forest land acquisition issue and hence it has been planned to supply water to Vani Vilas Sagar through an escape canal,” the Irrigation Minister informed.
The minister said that there are land acquisition issues due to forest lands in some places which will be discussed with the department and the Chief Minister.
“By the end of July 2024, we have completed works worth Rs 16,152 crores and the project will be completed by 2027,” the Irrigation Minister said.
The Deputy Chief Minister also informed that the government has used German technology (Real Time Discharge Measurement) to measure the exact quantity of water that is flowing through the barrages.
“In the time period between June 1 and August 20, a total of 13.34 TMC of water flow has been recorded in the project,” the Irrigation Minister added.
On leakages at many places along the route, the Irrigation Minister said the issues would be sorted out soon.
Replying to a query on allegations of unscientific excavations for the project, the Deputy Chief Minister said that all the issues will be addressed soon.