Vijayapura, 6 Sept 

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has appealed to farmers not to take land compensation disputes to court, warning that it will only delay the Krishna Upper Bank Project (UKP) Phase 3, which is already at a critical stage.

“A meeting will be convened within the next week in connection with the third phase of the Krishna Mala Danda Project to determine the rate for land compensation,” he said after performing ‘Ganga puja’ and offering ‘bagina’ to the Krishna at Lal Bahadur Shastri reservoir (Almatti dam) with his Deputy DK Shivakumar in Vijayapura district on Saturday. 

“Previously a meeting with farmers’ leaders was held in Belagavi and the government had agreed to their suggestions. Recently Shivakumar has discussed the issue with farmers and legislators of the region. It has now reached the stage of giving consent award,” he said.

“An agreement will be made based on everyone’s consent,” he claimed. “This issue will be resolved within the next week.”

Siddaramaiah added that the dam height of the UKP would be increased from 519.6m to 524.25m, which would increase the storage capacity to 130 TMC of water.

Shivakumar said that State has lobbied the Union Government multiple times to push the UKP notification forward but had been blocked by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, as he too urged farmers not to go to courts.

“Around 20,000 cases have been filed by farmers seeking additional land compensation, and they are approaching the courts. Some lawyers are also attempting to mislead the farmers,” he said. “This will not yield any benefits.” 

Siddaramaiah also reaffirmed his commitment to building a medical college in every district and said that Vijayapura will get its own medical college in the 2025-26 budget.

Colleges were approved for Bagalkote, Mangaluru, and Kolar, he said, adding that the institutions would be build under the PPP model.