The Hindu : Karnataka / Bellary News : Dearth of funds hits tank work

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 05, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bellary

Dearth of funds hits tank work

By Our Staff Correspondent

BELLARY, JUNE 4. Non-release of adequate funds has affected work on "Shettikere," an ancient tank.

The delay in completion of the work has become a source of worry for the people and farmers of Papinayakanahalli in Hospet taluk, Bellary district, who fear crop loss if the tank gets breached when it rains heavily.

The revival of "Shettikere" was taken up under the Special Package of Schemes for Development of Bellary district.

The work, entrusted to the Minor Irrigation Department, was launched in November last year by M.Y. Ghorpade, the then Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj. The work was scheduled to be completed by April 2004.

According to the plan, the tank was to be modified and rebuilt at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.46 crore.

The idea was to make the tank hold water coming from the nearby hills surrounding it in 2.76 sq. km. and was expected to irrigate around 400 acres of parched land in the vicinity.

Presently, only about 25 per cent of the work has been completed. With the early onset of monsoon, the area experienced good rain, and the water in the tank overflowed causing erosion of the bund.

The farmers fear that the bund may breach and destroy the standing crops downstream.

The farmers have urged the authorities to take up repair works immediately.

If this was not done they would be forced to agitate, they warned. Enquiries revealed that the work was stopped by the contractors because of non-release of funds.

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