Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy has directed the officials to speed up the desilting of 527 tanks spread over five districts along the Yettinahole project route to increase storage capacity.
Addressing a special meeting convened to discuss the progress of the Yettinahole drinking water project, the Chief Minister said the excess water of the Yettinahole river and its five tributaries would be lifted and then channelised through gravitational pull and pumping method.
The project is expected to cover and benefit people living in the districts of Hassan, Tumkuru, Chikkaballapur, Kolar and Bengaluru Rural. The project envisages providing drinking water and also aims at rejuvenating the depleted groundwater level in five districts.
The Chief Minister instructed that tanks lying in these districts are to be filled by channelising the Yettinahole river water.
He also gave instructions to appoint personnel to three key posts immediately to facilitate land acquisition to which sanction has been given.
He also directed the officers to work out the modalities of acquiring land and distributing compensation in a time-bound manner.
Film city
In another development, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged Kumaraswamy to reconsider the decision to shift the flim city from Mysuru to Ramanagaram.
In a letter to Kumaraswamy, Siddaramaiah said Mysuru is ideal place for film city as hundreds of films have been shot in and around the city and the region has abdunt natural locations which are most-sought after destination not just for Kannada film industry but also for Hindi flims.
Siddaramaiah in his tenure as Chief Minister had gifted film city to Mysuru but now Kumaraswamy in his budget announced setting up the film city in Ramanagaram.
The argument that Ramanagaram is closer to Bengaluru and ‘Sholay’ was shot there should not be given much weightage, he said.