Malaprabha river bed to be free from encroachment, says Minister Karjol

The Water Resource Department has embarked upon the new plan of surveying the Malaprabha river bed and freeing it from encroachment, according to Water Resources Minister Govind Kajol.

He said in Dharwad on Saturday that the Malaprabha starts at Kanakumbi in Belagavi district and flows into Krishna at Kudalsangam. The river path is 332 kms, but it has been encroached at several points.

The river which is 144 meter at the starting point, has been narrowed to 18 meter is few areas. This is leading to floods during monsoon in parts of North Karnataka.

Hence, to contain the floods and also ensure that tail-end farmers get water, the department would be taking up a survey of the Malaprabha river bed and also free it from encroachment.

Micro-irrigation

Karjol said, drip, sprinkler, and micro-irrigational projects in the State have not given the desired results. These projects have not been adopted by more than 40% of farmers.

He said, the drip irrigation and sprinklers have proved beneficial for horticulture crops, but not at the expected level for conventional crops. Micro-irrigation aimed at judicious use of water. However, majority of the farmers in Karnataka have gone back to flood or flow irrigation which according to them is beneficial.

Hence, to facilitate these farmers meet the growing food demand, the Water Resources Department would be opting for an intervention model and provide the water flow outlet for the farmers directly at their fields.

Under this project, it is up to the farmers to either take up drip irrigation or flow irrigation according to their needs, he noted.