Southern States - Karnataka   

Tank being filled to raise water-table

By Our Staff Reporter

Bangalore Nov. 12. The Department of Rural Water Supply has started pumping water from the Tungabhadra river to the Medileri tank in Ranebennur taluk on a trial basis for raising the water-table in about 10 villages around the tank and supplying drinking water next summer.

Addressing presspersons, the Minister of State for Rural Water Supply, K.B. Koliwad, said Rs. 61 lakh would be required to fill the tank. This was part of a programme under which one tank each in all the four divisions would be filled. More tanks would be filled to raise the water-table after proposals were received from deputy commissioners. The Medleri tank is 5 km. from the Tungabhadra river.

Mr. Koliwad said that since Kolar district had no rivers, three tanks would be constructed. The locations were yet to be identified, he added.

Under the Jala Rakshana programme, the Government had received applications from over 3.2 lakh farmers. However, it did not have adequate foodgrains to distribute among them, he added.

He stressed the need for changing the cropping pattern to prevent acute drinking water shortage. He said the Government had directed farmers with IP sets, who were growing paddy on 1.2 lakh hectares and sugarcane on one lakh hectares, to switch over to crops which did not require a large quantity of water. He warned that power supply to IP sets would be cut off if they violated the directive.

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