The Union government was planning to take up de-silting and repair of five lakh water bodies throughout the country on the lines of Mission Kakatiya being taken up by the Telangana government on a large scale, informed Major Irrigation Minister Harish Rao.
The Centre was appreciative of the project and wants to take it up on a large scale throughout the country as a means to tackle the drought conditions, he claimed, in a statement released to the media late on Tuesday night.
However, while phase one of the Mission was pretty successful there was some delay in taking up the phase two works, he lamented and appealed to the people’s representatives at all levels, voluntary organisations and citizens to seize the initiative and ensure the works are taken up and completed before the monsoon sets in.
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Giving a break-up of works proposed and taken up in the districts, the Minister said that except for Khammam where 589 of 742 works had begun, in all other districts it has been a dismal picture. For instance, just 206 works were taken up out of 414 proposed in Mahabubnagar, 527 out of 762 in Nalgonda, slightly better in Medak with 537 of 571 underway.
Mr. Rao observed that if the MLAs, MLCs and other concerned show the necessary alacrity, most of the desilting works and other repairs could be completed sooner than later. He pointed out that 6,500 water bodies of the proposed 8,217 have been completed in phase one of the project at an estimated cost of Rs.2,609 crore with 6.4 lakh tonnes of silt removed worth Rs.400 crore.
The government had also obtained Rs.18 crore as donations from various agencies and philanthropists. The government plans to spend Rs.3,000 crore on the water bodies repair and revamp in the second phase, he added. Mission Kakatiya, incidentally, has a helpline 40 – 23472233, working from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and a mail id - Mission Kakatiya helpline @ gmail.
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