The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : State sets out to utilise Cauvery waters fully

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

State sets out to utilise Cauvery waters fully

Special Correspondent

1,262 tanks to be cleaned, 19 lift irrigation projects planned

BANGALORE: To utilise the Cauvery water fully, the Government has taken up works of six lift irrigation projects and will rejuvenate 1,262 tanks in the Cauvery Basin at a cost of Rs. 657.73 crore.

Minister for Water Resources K.S. Eshwarappa told presspersons here on Monday that the work on six lift irrigation projects would be completed in 2007-08. He said Rs. 600 crore had been earmarked for removing silt from 1,262 tanks in two years.

Cauvery Neeravari Nigam Ltd. would take up lift irrigation project. It would initiate cleaning and modernisation of tanks next month and complete works in the next two years.

Storing of water would benefit farmers who had been affected by the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal's final verdict, he said. The tribunal, in its verdict, had not imposed any restriction on execution of irrigation projects in the basin districts of the State, he said.

Mr. Eshwarappa said Rs. 57.73 crore had been allotted for completion of works on lift irrigation projects and they were Periyapatna (Rs. 2.41 crore), Taraka (Rs. 1.45 crore), Banahalli Hundi (Rs. 16.72 crore), Bagur-Navile (Rs. 5.17 crore), Huchhanakoppalu (Rs. 6.66 crore) and Arkavathi (Rs. 25.32 crore).

The Government had envisaged completing 19 lift irrigation projects, including six in the Cauvery Basin, by spending Rs. 267.52 crore this financial year. Of the 39 projects taken up in 2006-07, work on 35 projects had been completed.

KBJNL

The Minister said the Government would not wind up Krishna Bhagya Jal Nigam Ltd. (KBJNL), a special purpose vehicle established to mobilise resources to fund irrigation projects in the Krishna river basin.

The Accountant-General had recommended to the Government to wind up KBJNL because it would increase the financial burden on the State.

The Financial Department had studied the issue and left it to the Water Resources Department to take a final decision. The Nigam was entrusted with the responsibility for planning, estimation, execution and maintenance of Krishna basin projects stage 1 Phase III and stage-II works, he said.

It was entrusted with the work of filling minor irrigation tanks in Bijapur and Bagalkot districts at an estimated cost of Rs. 86.10 crore. The allegations made by Congress leaders N. Dharam Singh and H.K. Patil that the Government was considering closure of the nigam were baseless, he said.

The Minister said that the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) had come forward to fund projects in the Cauvery Basin.

Training

The FAO would train 21 engineers on modern irrigation management methods in Mysore next month, he said.

Asked about irregularities in the Bennethora project in Gulbarga district, he said a committee constituted by the Government recommended severe action against 23 engineers for misappropriation of Rs. 22 crore during the execution of the project. Of the 23 engineers, 13 were retired.

To eliminate irregularities in the rejuvenation of tanks scheme, the Minister said a third party would be selected to monitor the works regularly.

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