Karnataka   

Bhadra work to begin by October

Chitradurga: The works of Upper Bhadra project will begin by October this year, as the survey and tender process has been completed, Minister for Water Resources K.S. Eshwarappa has said.

Speaking to presspersons here on Friday, he said that the Government was committed to complete the project. The Government would ensure that the project was not delayed by any bottlenecks.

He said that Rs. 825 crore had been released, of which Rs. 550 crore would be used for constructing canal to lift the water from Tunga to Bhadra. The rest of the funds would be used for constructing canals near Ajjampura in Chikmagalur district.

He said that the people of Terikere in Chikmagalur district had been demanding the diversion of project to their area for irrigation and drinking water. “The Government has made it clear that it is not possible to meet their demand as the project is meant to provide irrigation and water facilities to Chitradurga district. However, a separate project will be mooted for them to fulfil their demands,” he said.

He said that the canals cannot be diverted any areas simply because it is passing those places. If such thing is done, then the entire project which aimed at irrigating 1.5 lakh acres of Chitradurga district would lose its purpose.

On the allegation of shoddy canal projects, he refuted the allegations and said that he had personally visited the areas and had found no fault in the projects. The Government had appointed eight agencies for a third party inspection.

The funds would be released to the contractors only when the agencies would give a clean chit, he said.

On the works of Kalasa-Bandori Nala, the Minister said that Rs. 54 crore had been released.

On the objections raised by the Centre Government that the project was on forest land, Mr. Eshwarappa made it clear that the Government had not undertaken the project on any forest land.

“The Supreme Court has asked the Centre to file an affidavit within four weeks to clear its stand, but so far it has not followed the directions.”

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