Bengaluru:  The Hale Unduwadi Drinking Water Project, a pet project of Mysuru District Minister G.T. Devegowda (GTD), figured in the Cabinet meeting yesterday where the Minister alleged that the much-needed project was being delayed by the officials.

Officers are deliberately delaying the project that will supply drinking water to Mysuru though Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy (HDK) has released Rs.50 crore to the project in his last Budget speech. Things have not moved to make the project a reality, he said.

The project is in a limbo due to land tangle between Government agencies. The main hurdle for the project is the deadlock between 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 Govt. 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.

The Minister told the Cabinet that the project aims to provide drinking water to the city and over 90 villages around the city.

Unduwadi is located two kilometres from the upstream of KRS Dam. “Just because the project supplies water to villages, officials are delaying it,” G.T. Devegowda alleged.

Responding to the Minister’s allegations, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy directed Chief Secretary T.M. Vijay Bhaskar to examine the project and prepare a detailed report and place it before the next Cabinet.