Karnataka Cabinet to Decide on Expanding State’s Largest Dam on Sept 16

Fast Summary

• Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will hold a special cabinet meeting on September 16 to decide on key policy matters related to the Upper Krishna Project (UKP)-III, including raising the Almatti Dam’s height and compensating affected landowners.
• The UKP-III project aims to increase the dam’s height from 517 metres to 524.2 metres, as per the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal award, adding a storage capacity of 100 tmcft and enabling irrigation for an additional 6 lakh hectares.
• The expansion will effect 20 villages and parts of Bagalkot town and require acquiring approximately 1.3 lakh acres for relief, rehabilitation, and water distribution infrastructure.
• Costs for the project have increased significantly from Rs 55,148 crore in 2018 to Rs 87,818 crore due to rising land prices and delays in Center’s gazette notification. Land acquisition costs alone now total Rs 40,557 crore.
• Siddaramaiah’s government has allocated Rs 5,563 crore in this year’s budget for initial funding of UKP-III.

Other Key Cabinet Decisions:

• A subcommittee is approved to establish cooperative societies ensuring labor rights protection for outsourced staff working under hazardous conditions.
• Amendments were made under Karnataka Minor Minerals Rules (2025) intending to make construction materials like sand and stones more affordable.
• Revised event protocols limit dignitary invitees at government events from nine people (extendable up to thirteen).
• Biodiesel blending with high-speed diesel has been authorized by cabinet approval.
• Sanctioned Rs.218.2 crores program tracing unmonitored cess monitoring tracking linked Union-focused lab infrastructure purposes [error alignment target passage basis scratched templates surrounding panel domain org standalone clarifications waxay کيوم do]-badhynamic

Indian Opinion Analysis

The Upper Krishna Project (UKP)-III stands as a critical initiative aimed at bolstering karnataka’s irrigation capacity while addressing water scarcity issues across six lakh hectares of farmland. Raising Almatti dam’s height underscores both opportunities-such as increased agricultural output-and challenges like displacement impacts affecting several village communities directly impacted by submersion zones meanwhile procedural bottleneck conversely court-final cases indicative oversight delays