6K crore plan for District Irrigation approved
Mangalore Today News Network
Mangaluru, Aug 24, 2016: The DK district-level committee meeting approved the DIP, District Irrigation Plan under PMKSY, ’Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana’. District In-charge Minister B Ramanath Rai chaired the meeting here on Aug 24, Tuesday. The plan has an expenditure of Rs 5,987.39 crore.
At a meeting of agriculture department joint director Kempegowda said 2,08,791 irrigation works have been proposed under the plan.
The resources available for the ongoing irrigation projects and other projects have been merged for the preparation of DIP, he added.
He said the DIP has presented holistic irrigation development perspective of the district outlining medium to long term development plans. For collecting the basic details, factors such as source of water, distribution of water, optimum use of water and increase in farm productivity, water budgeting has been taken into consideration, he stated.
He said about 1.08 billion cubic metre (BCM) water level will be increased in the district with 2,08,791 irrigation works. The present demand for water is 0.39 BCM and the available water in the district is 0.43 BCM, he added.
By 2020, the demand for water would be 0.48 BCM. Under the plan, the minor irrigation department has proposed 1,029 projects, including vented dams and rejuvenation of tanks worth Rs 4,222.47 crore. The agriculture and horticulture departments have proposed watershed projects, farm ponds, canal revetment, repair and renovation of vented dams. The forest department has proposed construction of gully checks and percolation ponds inside the forest at an estimated cost of Rs 25.66 crore, he explained.
The minister said he observes the need to construct series of check dams to increase the ground water table in the district.
Beach development : A tourism department official said five beaches-Someshwar, Ullal, Surathkal, Talapady and Sulthan Bathery-would be developed at an estimated cost of Rs 13.72 crore. A state-level meeting would finalise the work on August 25.
The department of port will develop a jetty at Panambur (Rs 125 lakh) and sea protection walls at Talapady and Someshwar to promote tourism. The beach development works have been entrusted to Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd (KRIDL), he added.
Special Land Acquisition Officer Gayathri Nayak said 353 objections were received for the widening of National Highway 169 (Mangaluru-Solapura) between Mangaluru-Moodabidri- Karkala. Among them, 100 objections have been disposed of. The Centre has written to the state on why the project should not be dropped with the delay in getting approval for land acquisition and clearance from forest department in Shivamogga stretch, she added.
Bus passes to endo victims : DK DC Dr K G Jagadeesha directed the officials from department of health and family welfare to conduct a drive to issue KSRTC bus passes to the Endosulfan victims.
The bus pass entitles the victim to travel across the state. The bus passes have been issued to the Endosulfan victims as well as an attendant. A total of 1,864 bus passes have been issued so far. There are 3,628 Endosulfan victims in the district, he said.
Rehabilitation centre : DHO Dr Ramakrishna said a permanent rehabilitation centre for Endosulfan victims has been proposed at a cost of Rs 6.50 crore. The equipment for the centre would cost another Rs 1 crore and maintenance charges would be Rs 1 crore every year.