Directorate to maximise irrigation potential

The State government will set up a separate directorate for the Command Area Development Authority (CADA), to ensure that it will continue to function independently.

The organisation has been entrusted with the responsibility of optimum utilisation of irrigation potential created under major and medium irrigation projects.

Speaking to reporters in Bangalore on Thursday, Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that the separate directorate will take up several projects including the opening of field channels, field drains and the reclamation of water-logged areas.   

Bommai said the government will bring an amendment to the Karnataka Command Area Development Act to give statutory status to the directorate. The government has planned to establish field channels to supply water to 1.5 lakh hectares in the next year and also reclaim 60,000 hectares of water-logged area. In total, the State government has sanctioned Rs 665 crore to CADA this fiscal year.

Deficient rainfall this year had resulted in the water-levels of major reservoirs plummeting to a 10-year low. As of July 4, the water level in KRS stood at 8 tmc ft compared to 23.8 tmc ft last year. The water level in the Tungabhadra stood at 5.266 tmc ft compared to 33.54 tmc ft last year. Ghataprabha water level stood at 20.86 tmc ft compared to 3.8 last year.