Landscaping and development of a park at Kabini Dam on the lines of Brindavan Gardens and a Disney-type project at the Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) were resurrected from cold storage during the traditional thanksgiving at the two dams by the Chief Minister, Basavaraj Bommai, on Tuesday.
Mr. Bommai, who offered bagina at Kabini dam in H.D. Kote taluk of Mysuru district consequent to the reservoir getting filled to the brim (2,284 ft), said the proposal to develop a park at Kabini was before the government. Though it is being conceived as a PPP model, it is also being proposed that the government should fund it entirely on its own and a suitable decision would be taken in due course, said Mr. Bommai.
The proposal was also included in the State Budget for 2021-22 tabled by the then Chief Minister B.S.Yediyurappa in February this year and ₹50 crore was allocated for it and nearly 300 acres of land is available for park development.
However, it is pertinent to note that the project at Kabini was mooted many years ago but is yet to gain any traction though budgetary allocation had kindled fresh hopes for its revival. Tourism experts have averred that the project at Kabini had a better potential to attract tourists compared to the Brindavan Gardens as tourists can club the visit with jungle safari at the Kabini backwaters abutting Nagarahole and Bandipur.
Mr. Bommai later visited the KRS in Srirangapatna taluk of Mandya district to offer bagina consequent to the dam attaining the full reservoir level of 124.80 ft. The district in-charge Minister, K.C.Narayana Gowda, and Srirangapatna MLA Ravindra Srikantaiah sought to revive the concept of Disney-type park at the KRS and urged the Chief Minister to expedite it so as to promote tourism in the region.
Mr. Narayana Gowda said that nearly 1 crore people visit the KRS every year and a ₹1,800 crore project under PPP model was conceived in 2018 but has not made any progress. He urged Mr. Bommai to revive the same so as to give a thrust to the project which, he said, would given an impetus to tourism in the region and benefit lakhs of people.
Mr. Ravindra Srikantaiah also raised the issue and urged Mr. Bommai to sanction the project so as to help promote tourism in Mysuru-Mandya belt. He also drew attention of the CM to pending canal link works in his constituency and said though the DPR had been approved and the tenders finalised, the works have been dropped and wanted them to be revived.
Mr. Srikantaiah said Mr. Yediyurappa had notified as a revenue village the cluster of settlements inhabited by those relocated during the construction of the KRS dam and appealed to Mr. Bommai to complete the civic amenities in the newly declared revenue village.
Minister for Water Resources Govind Karjol stressed upon the judicious use of water and to ensure that farmers living in the tail-end region of the canals get adequate water for irrigation. He said water was a precious commodity and time was not far when states and countries would be fighting each other on cloud seeding so as to harness water in their respective territory.
