<p>Bengaluru: In what could become a setback for Karnataka, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has added caveats for releasing funds for the Upper Bhadra Project under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana -Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (PMKSY-AIBP) Scheme.</p><p>In a letter dated September 5, Jal Shakti Secretary Debashree Mukherjee noted that providing funds will depend on compilation of updated financial details for the project, including the expenditure made,<br>balance cost and the updated eligible central assistance based on the balance cost. It also depends on available funds and geographical distribution, the letter noted.</p><p>Mukherjee was responding to letters by the additional chief secretary of the Water Resources Department dated August 16, 2023; June 19, 2024 and August 3, 2024, seeking extension of central assistance.</p>.Upper Bhadra not considered as national project : Centre.<p>Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil lambasted the BJP-led Union government for “throwing Budgetary promises to the wind.”</p>.<p>“In her 2023-24 Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman had stated that Rs 5,300-crore central assistance would be given to the Upper Bhadra Project to provide sustainable micro irrigation and fill up surface tanks for drinking water in the drought-prone Central Karnataka region,” Patil said.</p><p>Noting that the Budgetary promise was preceded by the recommendation of the Public Investment Board (PIB) of the Union Finance Ministry to name the Upper Bhadra Project as a national project, Patil said the Centre’s “backtracking” weakens federal polity.</p><p>“Alongside the political fight against the Centre, I will discuss with the CM and the Cabinet on whether to take legal recourse and move the Supreme Court,” the minister said and added that a total expenditure of Rs 9,713.28 crore had been incurred in the scheme to date.</p><p>Upper Bhadra Project is a major lift irrigation scheme under implementation in the Central Karnataka region. With a plan to irrigate 2,25,515 hectares by micro irrigation in drought-prone districts of Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Tumakuru and Davanagere, the project got an administrative approval to the re-revised DPR amounting to Rs 21,473.67 crore as per a government order dated December 16, 2020, when the BJP-led government headed by B S Yediyurappa was in power. Last week, the Cabinet expressed deep displeasure over the National Wildlife Board (NWB) not clearing the Kalasa-Banduri Nala (Mahadayi) drinking water project.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: In what could become a setback for Karnataka, the Ministry of Jal Shakti has added caveats for releasing funds for the Upper Bhadra Project under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana -Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (PMKSY-AIBP) Scheme.</p><p>In a letter dated September 5, Jal Shakti Secretary Debashree Mukherjee noted that providing funds will depend on compilation of updated financial details for the project, including the expenditure made,<br>balance cost and the updated eligible central assistance based on the balance cost. It also depends on available funds and geographical distribution, the letter noted.</p><p>Mukherjee was responding to letters by the additional chief secretary of the Water Resources Department dated August 16, 2023; June 19, 2024 and August 3, 2024, seeking extension of central assistance.</p>.Upper Bhadra not considered as national project : Centre.<p>Addressing a news conference on Tuesday, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil lambasted the BJP-led Union government for “throwing Budgetary promises to the wind.”</p>.<p>“In her 2023-24 Budget speech, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman had stated that Rs 5,300-crore central assistance would be given to the Upper Bhadra Project to provide sustainable micro irrigation and fill up surface tanks for drinking water in the drought-prone Central Karnataka region,” Patil said.</p><p>Noting that the Budgetary promise was preceded by the recommendation of the Public Investment Board (PIB) of the Union Finance Ministry to name the Upper Bhadra Project as a national project, Patil said the Centre’s “backtracking” weakens federal polity.</p><p>“Alongside the political fight against the Centre, I will discuss with the CM and the Cabinet on whether to take legal recourse and move the Supreme Court,” the minister said and added that a total expenditure of Rs 9,713.28 crore had been incurred in the scheme to date.</p><p>Upper Bhadra Project is a major lift irrigation scheme under implementation in the Central Karnataka region. With a plan to irrigate 2,25,515 hectares by micro irrigation in drought-prone districts of Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Tumakuru and Davanagere, the project got an administrative approval to the re-revised DPR amounting to Rs 21,473.67 crore as per a government order dated December 16, 2020, when the BJP-led government headed by B S Yediyurappa was in power. Last week, the Cabinet expressed deep displeasure over the National Wildlife Board (NWB) not clearing the Kalasa-Banduri Nala (Mahadayi) drinking water project.</p>