World Bank Funds Sought For Upper Krishna Rehab Package

The Karnataka government has sought assistance of Rs 863 crore from the World Bank for a Rs 3,000 crore rehabilitation-cum-resettlement package for its Upper Krishna project.

Since the World Bank finances only rehabilitation and resettlement projects, we have decided to seek only Rs 863 crore to give as compensation to the displaced owners, revenue minister B Somashekhar said.

Speaking to reporters after the state cabinet approved the package he said, we have already released Rs 25 crore. The package envisages almost doubling the compensation amount for the land acquisition.

Somashekhar said the Upper Krishna projects rehabilitation-cum-resettlement exercise would be the largest ever undertaken worldwide. The project would lead to the submerging of a total of 3.50 lakh acres of land, of which 70 per cent is dryland. Around four lakh people living in 201 villages are expected to be rehabilitated.

The state cabinet has also decided to double the compensation money for land acquired for the project from Rs 54,000 per acre for dryland, Rs 90,000 for wet land and Rs one lakh for double wet land having sugarcane and banana plantations.

Andhra Pradesh, which is also implementing several projects along the Krishna river, has been paying around 40 per cent of the compensation fixed by Karnataka, he added.

Renowned architect Charles Corea will design the rehabilitation centres as well as Bagalkot town, which is expected to be almost submerged. The rehabilitation amount also include grants for transportation, construction and income generating schemes for the people to be resettled.

The state government has also decided to appoint more private advocates to handle the 20,000-plus pending court cases. This was one of the pre-conditions put forth by the World Bank. Most of these cases are the result of the meagre compensation fixed earlier. Somashekhar said the state cabinet had also authorised project officials to enter into negotiated price settlements with land owners under the Consent Award Scheme to hasten project implementation and avoid litigation.