Speaking after dedicating the Upper Tunga Project (UTP) to the nation in Gajanur near here on Sunday, he said irrigation works along Krishna and Cauvery basin will be expedited and Government will provide necessary funds for the purpose.

He termed commissioning of Upper Tunga Project which irrigates 1.98 lakh acres of land in Shimoga, Davangere and Haveri districts, as a significant leap in using the State’s share of water in Krishna basin. Reservoir is constructed across River Tunga in Gajanur for the project at Rs 1,145 crore, which can store 3.24 tmc feet of water. He informed that 12.24 tmc feet of water will be used annually under the project. The project has 270 km-long main canal and the work of constructing sub-canals will be completed at the earliest, he said.

Minister for Water Resource Basavaraj Bommai informed that 79,070 acres of land in the command area of UTP upto 176.5 km distance of the main canal will be irrigated this year.

He informed that the work of modernising Bhadra canal will be completed by the end of 2011. Tenders will be floated soon for Tunga lift irrigation project. The work of modernising Tungabhadra, Kabini and Tunga projects will be taken up soon. He informed that 14 new irrigation projects were completed last year and 15 more projects will be completed this year. He added that irrigation facilities were provided to 1.20 lakh acres of land in the State in the last two years.

Farmers from Davangere and Haveri districts took part in the programme in large numbers. State Legislative Council Speaker D H Shankaramurthy, Excise Minister M P Renukacharya, MP Ayanur Manjunath were among those present.