Yielding to immense pressure from some Ministers and Bharatiya Janata Party legislators from Bombay Karnataka region, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has announced allocation of ₹10,000 crore for the third phase of the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) in Vijayapura district.
This comes a day after the State Budget was presented. The Opposition, while welcoming the allocation, demanded to know from what sources the Chief Minister proposed to raise this enormous amount.
The Chief Minister made the announcement in the Assembly on Friday, after Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol and BJP MLAs of Bombay Karnataka region urged him to allocate funds to the UKP phase-III project.
Unhappy leaders
Apparently, several Ministers and legislators expressed their displeasure over the non-allocation of funds in the Budget to UKP. They had not attended the post-budget press meet of the Chief Minister at the Secretariat. Only Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister J.C. Madhuswamy had attended it.
It is learnt that the BJP Ministers and legislators of the region held a dinner meeting on Thursday night to chalk out a strategy to seek funds for UKP. They had even thought of taking up the issue with the party high command.
Realising that this might blow into another controversy and lead to groupism among a section of Ministers and legislators, Mr. Yediyurappa announced the amount as soon as the House assembled on Friday.
However, the Chief Minister’s announcement of a huge financial commitment to the UKP irrigation project has surprised many in the House because its financial implications have not been accounted for in the Budget.
Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah asked the Chief Minister where he would get such a huge amount from. “We have no objection to the amount being given to the UKP project. But from where do you bring this money for the project? Your announcement will remain only on paper because there is no money in the government to take up any project in the State,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
Mr Karjol said that the project works were pending owing to poor commitment from successive governments. Allocation of ₹10,000 crore will help to take up the irrigation work, he said.
Action plan soon
The Chief Minister said that he has asked the officials to prepare an action plan to take up the project. Within three years, it would be completed. Along with the irrigation project, the government would also take up rehabilitation of 20 villages that are going to submerge, he said.
The 2020-21 Budget has allocated ₹500 crore for the Mahadayi project and ₹1,500 crore for Yettinahole project.
