Govt. implementing more micro irrigation projects for judicious use of water, says CM

‘The challenge before us is to use available water to bring more area under irrigation’

Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah (right) giving clarification to noted water activist, Rajendra Singh that his government is not denotifying tanks, during the valedictory function of national water convention in Vijayapura on Friday.

Regretting that only 34% of the State’s agriculture land came under irrigation, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said the government was implementing more micro irrigation projects for optimum and judicious use of the available water.

“Karnataka is second only to Rajasthan in having the highest area of rain-fed agriculture crops. The challenge before us is to use the limited available water to bring more area under irrigation which is possible by implementing more micro irrigation projects,” the Chief Minister said.

Speaking at the valedictory function of the National Water Convention for Drought Free India here on Friday, he said conserving water has become crucial for a State like Karnataka which is facing drought for the last seven successive years.

Since flow-irrigation is not feasible as it wastes too much of water, Mr. Siddaramaiah said besides drip irrigation, irrigation using sprinklers, will also be taken up in the State.

Stating that tank-filling project was his government’s priority, Mr. Siddaramaiah said the government has prepared a ₹2500-crore project to fill the tanks in Chickballapur and Kolar districts by treating the sewage generating from Bengaluru city. Bengaluru city alone generates 20 tmc of waste water, which the government plans to reuse. “This huge quantum of water — which is going waste — will be treated and supplied to fill the tanks in the two districts to solve the water problem to a significant extent,” the Chief Minister said.

Describing the news of denotifying tanks as a false propaganda by a few to defame the Congress government, the Chief Minister said no such proposal was placed before the Cabinet. “I am making it categorically clear that our government has no plan to denotify the tanks in the State as we are for protection of the tanks and not destroy them. The canards are being spread by people with vested interests,” he said.

Water Resources Minister M. B. Patil, water activist Rajendra Singh, Shivananda Patil, Yashwantraigouda Patil, and Makbul Bagwan, all MLAs, and a number of activists and experts were present on the occasion.