Deccan Herald 04.02.2014
Water users should be charged operation cost: CS
Water users, including farmers, should be
charged operation and maintenance (O&M) cost so that they understand
the importance of conserving the precious lifeline, according to Chief
Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee. No decision, however, has been taken in
this regard as yet, he added.
People have not
understood the significance of water and therefore misuse it, he said at
a workshop organised for engineers by the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam
Limited (KBJNL) here on Monday on the methods followed in implementing
drip irrigation.
Water crisis is so severe that it may lead to
wars among nations, he added. The chief secretary further said that it
was time to adopt drip irrigation to conserve water and improve the
fertility of soil.
were on to charge farmers an annual O&M cost of Rs 500 per acre for
using water under the Ramthal-Marol Integrated Micro Irrigation project
in the Upper Krishna Basin. Farmers should understand that they get
more water and can irrigate more area if they pay the O&M cost, he
said.
The KBJNL will spend Rs 761 crore on the Ramthal project to be implemented by Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd, a private company.
Menahem Kanafi, the Israeli Consul-General in Bangalore, said that the Union and State governments had evinced interest.
