Water users should be charged operation cost: CS

Water users, including farmers, should be charged operation and maintenance (O&M) cost so that they understand the importance of conserving the precious lifeline, according to Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee. No decision, however, has been taken in this regard as yet, he added. 

People have not understood the significance of water and therefore misuse it, he said at a workshop organised for engineers by the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited (KBJNL) here on Monday on the methods followed in implementing drip irrigation. 

Water crisis is so severe that it may lead to wars among nations, he added. The chief secretary further said that it was time to adopt drip irrigation to conserve water and improve the fertility of soil. 

Kapil Mohan, Managing Director, KBJNL, said that plans were on to charge farmers an annual O&M cost of Rs 500 per acre for using water under the Ramthal-Marol Integrated Micro Irrigation project in the Upper Krishna Basin. Farmers should understand that they get more water and can irrigate more area if they pay the O&M cost, he said. 

The KBJNL will spend Rs 761 crore on the Ramthal project to be implemented by Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd, a private company. 

Menahem Kanafi, the Israeli Consul-General in Bangalore, said that the Union and State governments had evinced interest in adopting the Israeli technology for irrigation.