Shivamogga: Scheduled tribes welfare department and Chitradurga district minister T Raghumurthy on Sunday inaugurated a pilot project to release 3tmcft of water from the Bhadra Reservoir into the Chitradurga branch canal.Speaking at the Upper Bhadra Project intake point on Sunday, the minister declared that a 6-to-7-decade-long struggle has finally materialised. Once fully realised, the project will lift 17.4tmcft from the Tunga River to Bhadra dam and combine it with 12.5tmcft from Bhadra for a total of 29.9tmcft, eventually benefitting parched areas across Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Chikkamagaluru, and Davanagere districts by filling 367 lakes and providing drip irrigation across 2.25 lakh hectares.However, as directed by the chief minister and water resources minister, the current release on Sunday is strictly limited to an experimental 3tmcft because drip irrigation infrastructure remains under construction and lake-filling systems are only partially complete.Raghumurthy appealed to the public to avoid confusion, cooperate fully, and make optimal use of this temporary trial until full water-lifting capabilities and permanent irrigation networks are entirely operational.The event was attended by prominent leaders including Chitradurga MLA K Veerendra (Pappi), Holalkere MLA M Chandrappa, Sira MLA TB Jayachandra, Tarikere MLA Srinivas, and Hosadurga MLA BG Govindappa.
