Karnataka Seeks Rs 4708 Crore Yettinahole Project Jal Jeevan Mission

The Karnataka government Tuesday requested Rs 4,708.14 crore from the Centre for the Yettinahole project under the Jal Jeevan Mission, a flagship initiative aimed at providing drinking water facilities to rural households.

Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar Khandre met Jal Shakti Minister C R Patil and Minister of State V Somanna in New Delhi and urged them to take up the project under the Jal Jeevan Mission.

The Yettinhole project, which is partially complete, aims to provide drinking water to drought-affected districts in South Interior Karnataka. They include Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Bengaluru Rural, Chitradurga and Tumakuru. The project covers around 6,600 villages spread across the districts and is expected to benefit a population of around 75 lakh.

In the petition, Khandre said the Karnataka Water Resources Department was implementing the project. Of the water extracted from diverting a west-flowing tributary of the river Nethravathi inland, the government plans to use 14 thousand million cubic feet) for drinking water supply and an additional 9.95 thousand million cubic feet for groundwater recharge in the districts.

Though the ambitious river diversion project was projected to cost around Rs 12,900 crore when it was first envisaged in 2014, delays and cost escalations meant it would cost in excess of Rs 23,000 crore by the time it was complete. Stage one of the project, which involved diverting floodwaters from Yettinahole and its tributaries, was inaugurated in September 2024.

The second phase of the project is expected to be completed by 2027. Among the ongoing works are a gravity canal along the entire length of the project, construction of the Bhairagondlu balancing reservoir in Tumakuru district, and construction of feeder canals for Kolar and nearby areas.