Picotta irrigation project sans political will

When one Krishnaiah Gowda was the member of the erstwhile Taluk Board in 1978, a plan for the picotta irrigation was envisaged here with an idea of providing water to several acres of land in Honnekudige Gram Panchayat limits. The plan was approved in 1985, when former PM H D Deve Gowda was the State Irrigation Minister.

Bottlenecks

Tenders were invited for the project in 1992. But there was no approval to use Bhadra backwaters. In the meantime, the Cauvery Mission was cancelled. However, since the World Bank sanctioned money for minor irrigation projects, the plan got a restart in 1998 when D B Chandre Gowda was the minister. But, again, the Forest department did not approve.
It was in May 2008, MLA D N Jeevaraj laid foundation stone for the project. The project is of Rs 3.75 crore. It has the objective of supplying water to 713 acres fertile land including Salur, Handur, Honnekudige, Hantuvani and Basargalale. It is intended to establish a 300 HP motor to supply water via pipe.

According to the engineer, though a duration of two-and-half-years has been specified for completing the project, works can be done only during two months since one should wait for decrease in the backwater-level in Bhadra. Whatever it may be, one thing is true: a project may be small or big, but its completion requires political will and proper supervision. Both have been lacking here.