Siddaramaiah inaugurates Yettinahole project stage one

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah inaugurated the much-awaited stage one of the Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Project (YIDWP) in Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan district on Friday. The first stage of the project has come to fruition about a decade after Siddaramaiah laid the foundation stone for the same during his first term as CM back in 2014.

During the inauguration, Siddaramaiah was accompanied by Deputy CM and Water Resources Minister DK Shivakumar, Home Minister G Parameshwara and Industries Minister G Parameshwara, among others. In its final avatar, the YIDWP envisions lifting of 24.01 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water available during monsoon in the Western Ghats yearly, primarily from the west-flowing Yettinahole stream, to nearly 75 lakh people in 29 taluks in drought-prone districts such as Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagar, Tumakuru, Hassan and Chikkamagaluru.

The water will be transported a distance of 274 kilometres through a steel pipeline and open canals. Water will also be lifted from Kadumanehole, Kerihole and Hongada Halla. The project will end up costing an estimated Rs 23,251.66 crore.
Doddanagar seat of launch On the occasion, Siddaramaiah officially launched the project by switching on the pumps that lift water at Doddanagar village.

Prior to this, water pumped from weirs built across the streams of the Western Ghats was collected at distribution chamber three at Doddanagar. Once the CM turned on the pumps, water flowed down from the four chambers some six kilometres at Hebbanahalli village.

The water has also been released into canals in the radius of 32.5 kilometres around the pump house. The water will then be diverted through Veda valley to Vani Vilas Sagar Dam located at a distance of 132.50 kilometres from the pump house. The initial plan is to lift 85 cubic feet per second (cusec) daily. The CM said that he expects the YIDWP to be completed in its entirety by March 31, 2027.
“This is a two stage project. The first stage was inaugurated today.

The second phase will be completed by 2027 and the project will be successful. Lakhs of people will benefit from this scheme. Drinking water will reach the homes of people in seven districts and scores of lakes will be rejuvenated,” Siddaramaiah said.

“As much as Rs 23,000 crore will be spent (on the project).
However, for us, the lives of people are more important than money.
Farmers have lost land for the sake of the state and the nation. Veerappa Moily’s (former CM) long-held wish is coming to fruition,” Shivakumar said.

However, not everyone is happy since the YIDWP has long been criticized by the activists in the Malnad and coastal Karnataka regions for displacing tribal populations and ecological damage in the Western Ghats.