Central govt clears Upper Bhadra Project

BENGALURU: The Investment Committee of Jal Shakti Ministry has cleared the Rs 16,125 crore Upper Bhadra Project, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said, while expressing his appreciation to the Centre on Thursday.Yediyurappa said this project will be of immense help for Davangere, Chituradurga, Tumakuru and Chikkamagaluru districts.

Yediyurappa thanked Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat for responding to the state’s request for early clearance of the project.The Upper Bhadra Project under the Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam Ltd is a major lift irrigation scheme under implementation in central Karnataka. It envisages lifting of water in the first stage from Tunga to Bhadra and in the second stage from Bhadra reservoir and providing it to a tunnel near Ajjampura through gravity canal in Tungabhadra sub-basin of Krishna basin.

It aims to irrigate 2,25,515 hectares by micro-irrigation in drought-prone districts of Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Tumakuru and Davangere and fill up 367 tanks under the drought prone taluks of the three districts through Chitradurga and Tumakuru branch canals.The primary objective of the project is to provide sustainable irrigation facility in Kharif season and the other objective of the project is to recharge the groundwater table and dilute the chemical contaminants of which Fluoride is predominant.