Centre directs joint report amid fresh dispute over yettinahole project forest land usage
Yettinahole project: The expert committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has rejected the conceptual approval for using 432 acres of forest land in Hassan and Tumakuru districts for the Yetthinahole Project.
The Karnataka Forest Department had proposed on October 8 to utilize forest land in Kavals at Bennehalli and Kanchiganahalli of Tumakuru and Aidahalli Kaval and Kumarihalli village of Hassan to construct a gravity canal for the project. The proposal was sent to the Central Forest Advisory Committee for review.
The committee found serious violations, including illegal use of 107 hectares of forest, as revealed by the ministry’s high-level committee report. The state government, however, has filed an FIR only for a minor encroachment of 0.04 hectares, which the committee described as a major lapse.
The committee directed the Karnataka Forest Department and the ministry’s regional office to jointly submit a report on whether the lapse occurred due to the project implementation by Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam. The regional office was also advised to take necessary corrective actions independently.
The state government had earlier sought permission for using the 432 acres of forest, but due to widespread violations during project execution, the Central Forest Advisory Committee withheld approval and warned the state to take disciplinary action and fines against responsible officials.
The project work has since been halted. The state government argued that the 107 hectares were used mistakingly as revenue land and not intentional encroachment, urging the ministry to overlook the lapse and allow project continuation.
Yettinahole, an ambitious Karnataka drinking water project, aims to divert river water from the Western Ghats northwards to benefit seven districts including Hassan, Tumakuru, Chikkaballapur, and Bengaluru Rural, addressing water scarcity issues and irrigating thousands of hectares.
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