Team Goemkarponn
BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, during the presentation of the state budget on Friday, announced that work on the Kalasa-Bhandura water diversion project will commence once mandatory environmental and forest approvals are secured from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the National Board for Wildlife (NBW).
Presenting the Karnataka Budget 2026–27 in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah outlined a comprehensive Rs 4.48 lakh crore expenditure plan focused on enhancing welfare programs, strengthening education, boosting infrastructure, and modernizing state governance.
The Chief Minister confirmed that the contract for the Kalasa-Bhandura project has already been awarded, but construction will only start after the required environmental and forest clearances from the central authorities are obtained. He sharply criticized the Centre for delays in granting the necessary approvals, stating that these delays have prevented the project, which falls under the Mhadei river basin, from moving forward.
Siddaramaiah noted that although the Detailed Project Report (DPR) received approval from the Central Water Commission and the Supreme Court cleared the project back in 2018, it remains on hold pending final forest and wildlife clearance from MoEF&CC. Once these legal and environmental hurdles are overcome, the government is ready to implement the project.
The project aims to divert 3.90 TMC of water from the Mhadei river to the Malaprabha basin under specific conditions. The Karnataka government has warned that the ongoing delays are escalating costs and aggravating water shortages in Northern Karnataka districts, including Belagavi, Dharwad, Bagalkot, and Gadag. Officials confirmed that the state is actively pursuing the necessary clearances to ensure the project’s timely execution, which is crucial for meeting the drinking water demands of the region.
