Ministers discuss UKP third stage plans

Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who also holds the Water Resources portfolio, on Tuesday convened a meeting with Ministers concerned to discuss the land acquisition and rehabilitation for the third stage of the Upper Krishna Project (UKP-III) in north Karnataka that involves increasing the full reservoir level of the Almatti dam to 524 meters.

The government has stated that it is committed to increasing the height of the Almatti dam from the present 519.6 metres to 524.26 metres to help complete the third phase of UKP.

Law Minister H.K. Patil, Industries Minister M.B. Patil and Excise Minister R.B. Thimmapur, who also attended the meeting, discussed pending litigations in the court with respect to the acquisition of land for the project.

The construction of the third stage of the project requires relocating villages due to the submergence of land. The third stage would include the construction of new lift irrigation schemes at various locations to utilise the additional water allocated to Karnataka by the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal for irrigation in the North Karnataka region.