HALADY (UDUPI DISTRICT): Minister for Water Resources K.S. Eshwarappa said here on Saturday that the State Government would provide Rs. 25 crore in addition to the Rs. 75 crore earmarked in this year's budget to expedite work on the Varahi irrigation project.

Addressing presspersons here after inspecting the project, Mr. Eshwarappa said Rs. 569.53 crore was required to complete the project. Since the inception of the project in 1979 to March 2006, Rs. 93 crore had been spent, he added.

He noted that to procure funds under the Accelerated Irrigation Development Project (AIDP) of the Centre, at least one-third of the total cost had to be borne by the State Government. It was in this backdrop that the Government had decided to provide an additional Rs. 25 crore. He said that during his inspection of the project and in a meeting with officials, he had found that there were problems with the design of the canals. To solve this, a committee comprising elected representatives and experts would be formed.

Probe

He said work on the right and left bank canals were found to be of a poor quality. An inquiry would be ordered in this regard, and it would be completed in three months. The Government was committed to providing all facilities to the evacuees of the Varahi irrigation project, he added. He said the Government was committed to completing 39 projects in a year at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,042 crore.

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