State to raise Rs 800-crore loan for integrated water board

The State Cabinet has cleared the proposal to borrow Rs 800 crore from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to establish an integrated Karnataka State Water Resources Management Board (KSWRMB), according to Minister for Water Resources, M B Patil.

The board will integrate all river basins, surface water, ground water and other resources under a single independent body. The Rs 800-crore project is likely to take off by January 2014. “We will start the loan negotiations with ADB by the end of November and conclude the entire process in two months,” Patil told reporters here on Friday. The board will be instrumental in forming policies and implementing the projects on the ground.

Earlier, the minister said the Technical Advisory Committee  of the Union Ministry of Water Resources had approved the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Narayanpur Left Bank Canal (NLBC) project in north Karnataka. The Rs 4,103-crore project will be funded in the ratio of 90:10, with the Centre contributing Rs 3,800 crore.

Patil said it was the largest Expansion Renovation and Modernisation project in the country. The committee has also approved the DPR for Upper Tunga Project (UTP) estimated at Rs 2,561 crore.

“We hope to complete the NLBC project in three years and UTP will follow suit,” he added.
Meantime, the plans for modernisation of Vijayanagar, Tunga Anicut, Gondi Anicut and Bhadra channels have been submitted to the Central Water Commission for approval.

The DPR for Shiggaon Lift Irrigation Scheme has also been submitted to the CWC for approval. Patil said the government was seeking an additional Rs 2,000 crore from the Centre for various water resources management projects in the State.