CM Bommai declares next 10 years as 'decade of irrigation'

The technology will take water from NLBC to all branch canals in Indi, Jewargi, Shahpur and Mudabal taluks, Bommai said

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Thursday announced that the next 10 years will be declared as Neeravari Dsahaka (irrigation decade) during which special impetus would be given to major projects to bring 10 lakh hectares of dry land under irrigation.

“The state has set a target of bringing 40.66 lakh hectares under irrigation. So far, 30 lakh hectares have been covered under irrigation and the remaining 10.66 lakh hectares of dry land will be brought under irrigation in the next 10 years. The double-engine government will pump in adequate funds to achieve the target,” Bommai said at an event to mark the foundation stone laying for a slew of development works, including the modernisation of Narayanpur Left Bank Canal (NLBC), at Kodekal in Hunasagi
taluk.

Claiming that NLBC is Asia’s largest SCADA-enabled project, Bommai thanked PM Modi for including the NLBC project under Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) and providing Rs 1,011 crore for it.

The GIS-based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) crest gates for NLBC will help in judicious and effective use of water. The technology will ensure water reaches the tail-end fields in the parched Vijayapura, Kalaburagi and Yadgir districts, Bommai explained.

The technology will take water from NLBC to all branch canals in Indi, Jewargi, Shahpur and Mudabal taluks, he said.

Irrigation was accorded top priority when B S Yediyurappa was the chief minister in 2012, he added.

During his speech, the chief minister invoked Nalwadi Raja Venkatappa Nayaka of Surupur saying that he was one of the leading figures of the 1857 Rebellion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for projects worth Rs 10,863 crore, including the SCADA system crest gates for NLBC and a greenfield project of a six-lane national highway on the Chennai-Surat economic corridor.