Karnataka - Gulbarga   

Irrigation projects: new govt. has its task cut out

By T.V. Sivanandan

GULBARGA, MAY 26. One of the major tasks for the new government in the State will be to work out a mechanism to complete the pending major and medium irrigation projects in the Krishna Basin in Gulbarga district. The new government should also take steps to utilise the State's share of the allocated water in the Krishna.

Andhra Pradesh has made its intentions clear by asking the Union Government to include the unutilised share of the river water under Scheme "A'' of the Bachawat Tribunal Award as additional water to be shared among the riparian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh to be settled by the new tribunal.

The State should have utilised 18.91 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of the river water allocated under the Bachawat Award before May 31, 2000.

However, the government's failure of not allocating the required funds and monitoring the utilisation of the money released has affected work on these projects. The non-utilisation of the major portion of the allotted share of water under the projects has now given room for Andhra Pradesh to claim a share in the unutilised water as additional water for equal distribution among the riparian States.

The seven medium and major irrigation projects in the Krishna and Godavari basins in Gulbarga and Bidar districts, — Karanja, Bennethora, Bhima Lift, Amarja, Lower Mullamari, Chulkinala and Gandorinala — has potential to provide irrigation to 1.09 lakh hectares. So far only about 25,000 hectares have been brought under irrigation in the command area of the Karanja and Chulkinala irrigation projects.

The irrigation potential created under the Bennethora, Bhima Lift, Amarja, Lower Mullamari and Gondorinala projects is negligible. Most of these projects in the region were taken up as a part of drought relief works in 1972 and later converted into irrigation projects with the aim of providing irrigation facilities to the drought-prone areas in Gulbarga and Bidar districts.

But this has remained an unfulfilled dream because of poor allocation of funds and also misuse of the funds allocated for the Bennethora and Amarja projects. Almost all these projects are on the verge of completion and water has been impounded in the Amarja, Bennethora, Gandorinala and Lower Mullamari projects, but the Irrigation Department has not been able to release water to the fields because of the delay in completing the canal portion and laying of the distribution network, including the field irrigation channels.

The new government has now the responsibility of protecting the State's share of the water under Scheme "A'' of the award and also to claim a major portion of the additional water available in the river basin for meeting the irrigational requirements of the region.

The new Congress Legislature Party leader, N. Dharam Singh, who is set to take over the mantle as the Chief Minister, can, with increased allocation and better monitoring, ensure that these projects are inaugurated in a year or two bringing relief to farmers in the region.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• Irrigation projects: new govt. has its task cut out
• Their success comes as a glimmer of hope

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu