Upper Bhadra Project given the national project status.

Why in news?

• Karnataka Chief Minister has announced that the ‘Upper Bhadra Project’ has been given the national project status by the central government’s high-powered committee which becomes the first project in Karnataka to get the status.
• This change in status will enable Karnataka to receive Rs 12,500 crore grant from the centre and could transform central Karnataka from being water-scarce to water-rich.
• The foundation stone for the Upper Bhadra project was laid in 2008 to make Karnataka water-rich by utilising the excess water available in Krishna and Cauvery basins effectively.
• At present, water is flowing to Vani Vilas Sagar Dam, which has made the region water-rich.

About Upper Bhadra Project

• Upper Bhadra Project is a major lift irrigation scheme under implementation in the central region of Karnataka State which is being undertaken by ‘Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam Limited’.
• Objective – To provide a sustainable irrigation facility in the Kharif season and to recharge the groundwater table with fewer chemical contaminants like fluoride.
• The project received administrative approval in 2003 at an estimated cost of Rs. 2,813 crore.
• The project is designed to irrigate 2.25 lakh hectares in Chitradurga, Davangere, Tumakuru, and parts of Chikkamagaluru
• In the 1st stage of the project water will be lifted from Tunga to Bhadra and in the 2nd stage lifting of water will be from Bhadra reservoir, providing it to tunnel near Ajjampura through gravity canal in Tungabhadra sub-basin of Krishna basin