The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) of Government of India has accorded in-principle (stage-1) approval for diversion of 111.02 hectares of forest land in Hassan and Tumkur districts for the Yettinahole Drinking Water Project, targeted to provide water to drought-prone areas in Karnataka.
In a letter dated April 1, 2026, the Forest Conservation Division of the MoEFCC informed the Additional Chief Secretary (Forest, Ecology and Environment) in Karnataka that the Centre accorded the stage-1 approval under the Van (Samrakshan Evam Samvardhan) Abdhiniyam, 1980, for diverting the land to construct a gravity canal passing through the two districts.
The MoEFCC has placed certain conditions with regard to compensatory afforestation, online transfer of the Net Present Value (NPV) of the forest land being diverted, settlement of the rights with respect to Scheduled Tribes and traditional forest dwellers in the forest land, among others.
The Visvesvaraya Jala Nigamal Limited, the project proponent, has to fulfil the conditions and take the working permit to begin the canal work in the forest.
The main pump house of Yettinahole Integrated Drinking Water Project at Doddanagara. | Photo Credit: File photo
