Karnataka Budget: Rs 1 lakh crore needed to implement approved irrigation projects

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah blamed the previous government for making it “impossible” for his government to take up new irrigation projects in the State.

In his 14th budget, presented on Friday, the CM, who also holds the Finance portfolio, said the Water Resources Department requires nearly Rs 1 lakh crore for implementing projects that have been approved up to April 1, 2023, and the cost of this project is estimated to escalate further by Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 40,000 crore due to increased land acquisition expenses and others.

“While the average budgetary allocation for the water resources department is Rs 20,000 crore, the department has approved works five times its allocation. This is a clear example of the violation of fiscal discipline,” he said in the budget and added that in the last six months, the previous government had taken up 1,247 works at an estimated Rs 25,548 crore.

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Siddaramaiah said this financial year, the department will identify and complete 10 irrigation schemes, which were pending or moving at a slow pace, with a balance cost of Rs 940 crore. The 10 projects are estimated to irrigate 25,948 hectares of land.

The CM said his government will also take up 19 tank-filling projects at an estimated cost of Rs 770 crore through which 899 tanks in Belagavi, Davangere, Ballari, Haveri, Gadag, Bidar, Uttara Kannada, Vijayanagara, Koppal and Yadgir will be filled.

Siddaramaiah said his government will take action to complete the pending works of the Yetthinahole project, which was given administrative approval during his first tenure at an estimated cost of Rs 12,912 crore and now the cost has been escalated to Rs 23,252 crore “as the previous government did not complete the works in time”.

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Much against the expectation, the CM has not allocated any funds for the implementation of the Mekedatu balancing reservoir and Mahadayi project. “Our government will take necessary action to obtain clearance from the central government to implement the projects,” he said.

He also proposed to implement the construction of a balancing reservoir near Navale in Koppal to address the silt problem in the Tungabhadra Dam.

The CM said his government will press upon the central government for the speedy release of grants of Rs 5,300 crore announced in the Union budget for the implementation of the Upper Bhadra Project, which has so far not been officially approved as a ‘national project’.

Minor irrigation

Siddaramaiah said the second phase of KC Valley and H N Valley project will be taken up to fill 296 tanks of Kollar and Chikkaballapur districts at an estimated cost of Rs 529 crore.

1. Kulahalli-Hannooru, Thimmapura, Sasalatti-Shivalingeshwara and Mantooru Mahalakshmi lift irrigation projects will be implemented to irrigate 39,134 hectares of command area

2. Mekedatu project: Land for compensatory afforestation has been identified and priority will be given to initiating the land acquisition process

3. Efforts to get central assistance for the implementation of Phase 1 and Phase 2 of Upper Krishna Project and Sannati lift irrigation projects under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana – Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (PMKSY-AIBP)

4. Action will be taken to utilise 130 TMC water awarded by the Krishna Tribunal to Upper Krishna Project Phase-3