Indicating stress on finances, Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar on Friday said that the government was now focussed on completing ongoing works and new projects would be taken up based on financial strength.
Currently, ₹1.25 lakh crore worth of works are under progress whereas the budgetary support to the department is ₹19,000 crore, he told the Legislative Council. Bills are not being paid and 10% to 15% of the bill amount is being settled, the Deputy Chief Minister said in response to a question from BJP member Y.M. Satish.
In Ballari
Responding to a plea made by Mr. Satish to take up three irrigation works related to filling up tanks in Ballari district from the backwaters of Tungabhadra reservoir, he said that new works can be started after getting financial strength. He also said that proposal will be made before the Karnataka Mining Environment Restoration Corporation (KMERC) to facilitate the use of funds available for taking up the project in Ballari since it is in a mining-affected area.
To another question from P.H. Poojar on Upper Krishna Project (UKP), Mr. Shivakumar acknowledged that there is pressure to acquire land and not wait till the notification of Krishna II award. “So far, about 28,668 acres have been acquired of the total 1.33 lakh acres required when the height is increased to 524 m from 519 m. We want to complete the existing projects and budgetary allocation is only ₹19,000 crore. We want the notification to be done,” he said.
Drip irrigation
Responding to a question from Congress member Sharanagouda Bayyapur, Mr. Shivakumar said that Karnataka will study the Madhya Pradesh model in distribution of water for drip irrigation. “It looks like the drip irrigation scheme here has failed. Farmers here are rough and at many places they have removed drip irrigation pipes. In Madhya Pradesh, government provides water till the nearest point to the agriculture field and does not involve in drip irrigation. We will study the model and take a decision soon.”
