Karnataka - Gulbarga   

More funds sought for irrigation projects

By Our Special Correspondent

GULBARGA, JAN. 8. The Minister for Water Resources, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Saturday said that a proposal would be submitted to the Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh, and the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, seeking higher allocation to irrigation projects in the 2005-06 Budget to enable the Ministry to achieve the targeted irrigation potential and utilise the full share of the water allocated to the State.

Mr. Kharge, who is on a two-day visit to the district to review the progress of irrigation projects in the district, told The Hindu that there was a need to increase the budgetary allocation to the Ministry to complete ongoing works in the Krishna and Cauvery basins within five years.

He said that the Ministry would require at least Rs. 22,000 crores to complete all the ongoing projects within five years and the minimum budgetary allocation every year for the next five years should be not less than Rs. 5,000 crores.

Admitting the delay in the execution of irrigation projects in the State, Mr. Kharge said one of the major hindrances was the mobilisation of the resource for funding the projects and the non-clearance of the proposal to increase the borrowing limits of the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam (KBJN), Karnataka Neeravari Nigam (KNN), and Cauvery Neeravari Nigam (CNN).

The Minister said that the existing law regulating the borrowing limits of the nigams was posing hurdles in the efforts of the Ministry to mobilise funds for the projects taken up. It would be difficult to complete the projects in time if the Finance Department did not approve the proposal submitted by the Ministry.

Another problem was the shortage of the qualified hands and vacant posts of engineers. Many posts of executive engineers, superintendent engineers, and chief engineers in the Irrigation Department were vacant owing to stays given for promotions by the courts and the DPAR was also not taking decisions on promotions.

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