“There is no dearth of money for irrigation projects,” Ramesh Jarkiholi, Major and Medium Irrigation Minister, said in Diggewadi village near Chikkodi in Belagavi district on Saturday.
He was speaking after laying the foundation stone for a barrage across the Krishna between Jalalpur and Ingali villages. “We are committed to providing irrigation to every corner of the State. We want to serve farmers everywhere. We plan to build the maximum number of barrages possible across the Krishna in Belagavi district,” he said.
“I have asked officers to initiate irrigation projects in all 18 constituencies,” he said.
He said Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa had promised him the necessary funds for the expansion of the Upper Krishna project. Rajya Sabha member Prabhakar Kore suggested that pending projects should be completed as soon as possible, as it would ensure that Karnataka did not have to depend on Maharashtra for release of water every summer.
Mahantesh Kavatagimath, MLC, suggested that the State government could build a series of check-dams every five or 10 kilometres on the Krishna, following the Maharashtra model.
The barrage coming up at the cost of ₹33 crore will provide water to 10 villages in Raibag, Chikkodi and Athani taluks, Aravind Kanagil, Chief Engineer of Karnataka Nirvari Nigama, said.
