UKP III revised estimates to come up before Cabinet

M.B. Patil lays foundation stone for canal works under Mulawad project

May 26, 2017 12:09 am | Updated 12:09 am IST - Vijayapura

Water Resources and district in-charge Minister M.B. Patil inside an earthmover during the foundation stone laying ceremony for the third phase of Mulawad Lift Irrigation Project at Babaleshwar on Thursday.

Water Resources and district in-charge Minister M.B. Patil inside an earthmover during the foundation stone laying ceremony for the third phase of Mulawad Lift Irrigation Project at Babaleshwar on Thursday.

Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil has said that his Ministry would present a revised estimates amounting to ₹ 55,000 crore before the State Cabinet for the Upper Krishna Project III for approval.

He was addressing a gathering after laying the foundation stone for the canal works under the third phase of Mulawad Lift Irrigation Project in his Babaleshwar constituency on Thursday.

The Minister said that during the previous BJP government in the State, the estimates were put at ₹ 17,500 crore, but after the implementation of the land acquisition policy by the previous United Progressive Alliance government at the Centre, the project estimates had to be revised.

“As the government has to offer higher compensation to farmers who lose land to irrigation projects, the cost of the project has escalated to over ₹ 55,000 crore. Our Ministry is presenting the new estimates before the Cabinet for approval,” Mr. Patil said.

With regard to Malaprabha canal modernisation work, he asserted that the government was committed to completing the project before the end of its tenure.

He said that though the BJP leaders were opposing the project and were creating several hurdles, the government, is not going to shelve it.

Mr. Patil said that the government has filled 1,400 tanks in the State, including 203 tanks in the district, at a cost of ₹ 4,000 crore.

With regard to the Mulawad Lift Irrigation Project, he said that the project was scheduled to be completed by the end of December this year.

“It is an ambitious project which many people had felt would never get completed. But after I became Water Resources Minister, I took it as a challenge and decided to complete it within five years. The project would irrigate 50,000 acres of land,” he said.

The Minister said that the Congress government has completed a majority of irrigation projects in the State in less than five years.

Meanwhile, he urged sugarcane farmers to adopt drip irrigation instead of traditional flood irrigation as it utilised a huge quantum of water.

Drip irrigation would help save water which could be used by other farmers who are dependent on rain, he said.

Zilla Panchayat member Umesh Kolkur and other elected representatives were present.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.