Nearly 1,482 million litres of sewage water flows into Tamil Nadu from Bengaluru every day.
But, the proposal to treat this water and use it to rejuvenate dry lakes in Kolar and Chickballapur districts has seen little progress. In a written reply to a question raised by Y.A. Narayanaswamy, Minister for Minor Irrigation S. Tangadagi said consultants were being named to prepare an estimate for a lift-irrigation project to feed dried-up Kolar lakes through the Varthur valley and Chickballapur lakes through the Hebbal-Nagawara valley. The project is meant to rejuvenate 26 lakes in Chickballapur and 108 in Kolar in the first phase, he said.
At present, 60 per cent of the city’s sewage (889 million litres) flows into Tamil Nadu through Pinakini and Ponnaiyar rivers and 40 per cent (593 million litres) through Arkavathy and Cauvery rivers.
Back in 2012, Karnataka’s proposal for a lift irrigation project had been objected in Parliament by the Krishnagiri MP on the ground that constructing check dams would affect irrigation in Krishnagiri district.
Project to rejuvenate 26 lakes in Chickballapur and 108 in Kolar in the offing