Karnataka - Raichur   

All-party delegation to meet officials

By Our Staff Correspondent

RAICHUR, SEPT. 12. An all-party delegation of elected representatives, former MLAs, and farmers' leaders will meet the Irrigation Secretary, Mahesh, and the Principal Secretary to the Water Resource Department, Naik, in Bangalore on Monday to discuss the utilisation of Tungabhadra waters and the strengthening of the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal (TLBC).

Speaking to The Hindu today, N.S. Bose Raju, Manvi MLA and former Chairman of the Hyderabad Karnataka Development Board, said that agriculture in the command areas of the Tungabhadra Project had suffered even when storage in the reservoir had reached maximum levels this year. Water had not reached the tail-end command areas in Koppal and Raichur districts even when the discharge in the TLBC was maintained at the maximum capacity of 3,600 cusecs, he said.

Violations

It was felt that the violation of cropping patterns in addition to the increased command areas under the project were reasons for the shortage of water supplied to tail-end regions. The lack of proper maintenance of the canal and distributory channels had also resulted in wastage of water before it reached the tail-end areas, he said.

The steps taken to strengthen the main canal had been inadequate and there was a need to implement a comprehensive plan for the overall strengthening of the canal. The decrease in storage levels at the reservoir owing to silting over the years was an additional disadvantage.

Balancing reservoirs

Mr. Raju said that there had been a proposal to construct some balancing reservoirs down stream on the Tungabhadra to provide additional storage facilities during floods.

In this regard, the experts had identified some locations along the river. However, the project was yet to be implemented.

On the other hand, Andhra Pradesh had been demanding Karnataka to provide its share of Tungabhadra waters by maintaining adequate water supply in the right bank low level and right bank high level canals of the project and in the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS) across the river on the Raichur border.

The construction of some balancing reservoirs within Karnataka with a minimum capacity of around six tmcft would help meet the requirements of Andhra Pradesh.

The construction would also help Karnataka reserve some amount of water to augment water supply in the TLBC as and when required, Mr. Raju said.

Discussions

Mr. Raju said that these issues would be discussed at the proposed meeting in Bangalore. Retired engineers of the Tungabhadra Project, including R.R. Kustagi and Rudraiah; the irrigation expert, Raja Rao; and the retired Secretary of the Minor Irrigation Department, would also attend the meeting.

Expert committee

He said that after the meeting, the delegation would meet the Minister for Water Resources, Mallikarjuna Kharge, and apprise him on the outcome of the meeting.

The delegation would also meet the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, and urge him to constitute an expert committee to go into the details of the proposal and provide funds for the same, he said.

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