Mysuru:  Higher Education Minister and Chamundeshwari MLA G.T. Devegowda (GTD) has asked officials to take up the survey for Hale Unduwadi Drinking Water Project that is in a limbo due to land tangle between government agencies.

It is GTD’s pet project and it had recently got a boost when Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy released an initial funding of Rs. 50 crore when he presented the Budget. This project aims at getting Cauvery water from KRS backwaters instead of the present practice of lifting water from the canals. The project is designed to take care of Mysuru’s water needs at least for 100 years.

In his budget speech, Kumaraswamy announced that in order to permanently eradicate drinking water problem of Mysuru and 92 villages, Hale Unduwadi scheme will be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs. 540 crore. Once the project is implemented, the city and its neighbouring villages will get 300-350 Million Litres per Day (MLD) water from River Cauvery. This would be in addition to 250 MLD being supplied to the city at present.

Now the Minister has asked officials to take up the survey and speed-up the land acquisition process. At a meeting to review developmental works at Chamundeshwari Constituency held on Tuesday at Senate Bhavan in Manasagangothri, the Minister said that the CM had granted Rs. 50 crore. “This is an initial funding and the government’s expression of interest to take up the project. Officials should go ahead with the survey works,” the Minister said.

The main hurdle for the project is the deadlock between the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board (KIADB), Mysuru City Corporation (MCC), Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) as the KIADB has sanctioned the land to a realtor and the government has to intervene and annul the allotment.

The KIADB wing of Mandya acquired 290 acres of land at Beechanakuppe — including the 90-acre land that was meant for the Hale Unduwadi project — and allotted to a realtor to build a satellite township. After the land acquisition, KIADB created sites in the vicinity and sold a large chunk of it to the realtor.

On the other hand, the realtor has paid the amount for the sanctioned land and was legally on solid grounds. Only a Cabinet decision can rescind the sale. The Cabinet can direct KIADB to cancel the sale and identify and allot another plot to the realtor as the drinking water project is for the larger benefit of Mysuru.

Of the Rs. 540 crore meant for the project, Rs. 36 crore will be spent on land acquisition. GTD’s order to conduct a survey is significant as it conveys to officers that the government will clear all hurdles for the long-pending drinking water project.