Southern States - Karnataka   

Bommai seeks White Paper on Krishna irrigation schemes

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI Nov. 9. Basavaraj Bommai, JD(S) MLC and former deputy leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, has demanded that the State Government issue a White Paper giving details of the implementation of irrigation projects in the Krishna Basin and a correct picture of the utilisation of the waters of the Krishna allocated to the State under Scheme A of the Bachawat Tribunal award.

Mr. Bommai, in a letter to the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, has said Karnataka, under no circumstances, should give up its right over the surplus waters under Scheme B, and adequate financial provisions should be made to ensure that all the irrigation schemes designed to fully utilise waters under both the schemes are completed at the earliest.

Mr. Bommai has said that the State had been able to provide irrigation facilities in the Krishna Basin to 12.86 lakh ha as against the targeted 20.72 lakh ha as on March 2001, leaving a gap of 7.32 lakh ha. The State ought to have fully used the entire allocation of 729 tmcft of water (after allocating five tmcft for meeting the drinking water requirements of Chennai) by May 2000.

It was a bitter truth that the governments which had held office since 1974 failed to utilise the water fully despite all the political mileage they got in promising that the State would leave no stone unturned in ensuring full utilisation.

The matter had been raised by Andhra Pradesh in the complaint being filed seeking the establishment of a new tribunal. The time had come for the Government to make a clean breast of the utilisation of water and the reasons for the shortfall in complete utilisation before the stipulated period, he has said.

Mr. Bommai has said it was shocking to note that Karnataka had not spelled out the specific issues for determination in its complaint. It was also silent on the utilisation of waters under Scheme A. Andhra Pradesh was planning to appropriate Karnataka's share of water since the Government had failed to utilise the same fully and allowed Andhra Pradesh to make use of it.

Though the schemes had been under implementation for more than 25 years, lack of political will, rampant corruption, and inefficiency of the engineers had come in the way of utilising the potential fully.

All previous governments were to blame for the state of affairs, he has said in the letter.

Mr. Bommai has also demanded that Karnataka should plead for a stay on the implementation of the Telugu Ganga scheme, the Srisailam Left Bank Canal, and the Pulichintala scheme.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• CJ invites information on 'sex scandal'
• Writers oppose categorisation of books
• Bommai seeks White Paper on Krishna irrigation schemes
• Commissioner dismisses reports of `sex scandal'
• Rains revive hopes of farmers in Hassan
• Mandya farmers' agitation petering out
• Surgery comes as a godsend to youths
• Immersion of idols threatens tank
• Rly. action panel scales down protests

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu