The State Government will take up Jala Shakti, a mega rain water harvesting project, alongside important highways, on the lines of Maharashtra. This project will be taken up along the proposed highways in Nippani and Kittur in Belagavi district and then extended to the entire State, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said in Belagavi on Monday.
“Nitin Gadkari, Union Road Transport Minister, has implemented his ideas for water conservation in Maharashtra. He asked officers to dig up tanks alongside the National Highways and use the excavated mud to build roads. These empty boxes in the land would later serve as all season lakes and tanks. This has led to National Highways turning into large water conservation projects. They have solved drinking problems of several villages, by recharging the groundwater in those places. This unique idea is now being implemented in States like Rajasthan,’’ Mr. Bommai said.
The run off from these tanks will be fed to the lakes and rivers located close to the National Highways and water will thus be effectively utilised, he said. The project would include building of check dams, contour bunding, planting of trees, and creation of other harvesting structures.
