New Delhi: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday met Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav in New Delhi, seeking expedited Stage-1 forest clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for the Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Project.
During the meeting, Shivakumar submitted a formal request urging the Centre to grant “in-principle approval” for diversion of 111.0277 hectares of forest land in Hassan and Tumkur districts, where the project proposes to build a gravity main canal for drinking water supply. The project aims to benefit over 75 lakh people in seven drought-prone districts of Karnataka, including Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Tumkur, Hassan, Bengaluru South and Bengaluru Rural.
The Deputy CM emphasised that the diversion of 24.01 TMC of water from the Western Ghats in Sakaleshapura during monsoon would fill 527 tanks to 50% capacity, thereby improving the groundwater table and addressing acute drinking water shortages.
The proposal, submitted on June 4, 2025, was deliberated in the 6th meeting of the Forest Advisory Committee on June 24, and additional clarifications sought through the Parivesh portal have now been addressed. Final documentation is being prepared for submission to MoEF&CC, he added.
State Agriculture Minister N Cheluvaraya Swamy and Additional Chief Secretary Gaurav Gupta also participated in the meeting. Shivakumar, who also holds the Bengaluru Development portfolio, underscored the urgency of Union government clearance to avoid further delay in execution.
