Increasing the height of the Almatti dam from 519 metres to 524.256 metres to store additional water to take up the third stage of the Upper Krishna Project is going to be a challenge for the State government.
Official sources told The Hindu on Friday that funds would have to be mobilised for land acquisition and for taking up nine additional irrigation projects. The project is expected to irrigate another 5.3 lakh hectares in the drought-prone Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Kalaburagi, Raichur, Koppal, Gadag and Yadgir districts. Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigama Ltd. (KBJNL) is implementing it.
Share of water
The Krishna Water disputes Tribunal in its award passed in December 2010 had allocated 177 tmcft of water to Karnataka and of this, 130.90 tmcft has been fixed as the share of the UKP stage III.
Sources said that as per present estimates, increasing the height of the dam and impounding the water in the dam would result in submersion of 20 villages and parts of Bagalkot town. As per a detailed project report, 90,640 acres of land would be submerged in the backwaters once the water was impounded after increasing the height of the dam. `
Another 37,000 acres of land would be required to take up rehabilitation and set up the infrastructure to resettle 86,538 families who would be displaced. As per present estimates, nearly Rs. 11,000 crore would be required as per the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition and R&R Act, 2013. Sources said that mobilisation of funds for completing the ongoing and fresh woks within five years would be a challenge.
