Upper Krishna Project - Overview

Overview

The foundation stone for the Upper Krishna Project (UKP) was laid by former Indian prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on May 22, 1964. The project was designed to irrigate 15.36 lakh acres of land in Gulbarga, Raichur, Bijapur and Bagalkot. UKP intends to use the bulk of 173 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of water allocated to the state of Karnataka by the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal, headed by R.S. Bachawat, in May 1976. The initial estimation of the cost of the project was Rs. 120 crore (US$ 21.84 million); however, after many revisions, the final cost of the project reached Rs. 10,371.67 crore (US$ 1.89 billion), and it took 42 years for the project to be completed. 201 villages were affected by the project and 136 villages have been completely submerged in the backwaters of the reservoirs constructed as a part of the project.