State seeks Centre's okay for Rs 45K-cr water project

Karnataka on Thursday urged the Centre to approve its long-pending Rs 45,000-crore worth drinking water project proposal to supply clean water to villages located near rivers.

 “The state government had submitted the proposal to the Centre seeking funds to provide drinking water to villages on river banks. The government should expedite its approval,” S G Nanjayyanamatt, chairman, Rural Drinking Water Project Implementation Assessment Committee, Karnataka, said here.

Nanjayyanamatt, who met Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ramesh Jigajinagi here said that the project would help address the water crisis in several villages located close to rivers.

 “As the project requires huge investment, the state requested the Centre to share the burden. The Union Minister promised to study the proposal in detail”, he said.

While demanding that the Centre sanction the remaining amount of the Rs 386 crore allotted to Karnataka under Swachh Bharat Yojana, he also sought an additional Rs 700 crore to build toilets to make the state open defecation free. To make the state open defecation free, another 27 lakh toilets have to be built, he said.