World Bank (WB) has signed a loan agreement with Karnataka government for Rs 259 crore under the Project for Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of water bodies.
An official release here on Wednesday said that the RRR projected was being expanded throughout the country with external assistance.
The World Bank loan agreement has also been signed with Tamil Nadu for Rs 2182 crore to restore 5763 water bodies having a cultivable command area (CCA) of four lakh hectare, Andhra Pradesh for Rs. 835 crore for restoration of 3000 water bodies with a CCA of 2.5 lakh hectare. The ‘National Project for RRR of Water Bodies directly linked to Agriculture’ was sanctioned in January 2005 with an estimated cost of Rs 300 crore. The Scheme was approved for 26 district projects in 15 states including Karnataka at an estimated cost of Rs 299.92 crore.
The Central share of Rs 179.73 crore has been released to the states so far.  These projects cover 1098 water bodies with total original CCA of 1.72 lakh hectare. After RRR works, an additional irrigation potential of 78,000 hectare is likely to be generated. The physical works for restoration have been completed in 736 water bodies in 11 states so far.