The Hindu 31.12.2013
Bennethora, Mullamari projects to be reconstructed
Only the dam portions will be retained: Minister
The State government has decided to reconstruct the canals, distributaries and field irrigation Channels (FICs) of the Bennethora Major Irrigation and the Lower Mullamari Medium Irrigation projects. It has directed the Irrigation Department officials to prepare detailed estimates for the reconstruction work and submit it at the earliest.
Both Bennethora and lower Mullamari projects are among the long-pending irrigation projects taken up way back in early 1970s, as part of drought relief work. Despite the government pumping in funds every year for their early completion, both of the projects are yet to be completed.
Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash R. Patil and Municipal Administration and Waqf Minister Qamarul Islam, who presided over the quarterly review meeting of the Karnataka Development Programme (KDP) here on Monday, said that as a one-time measure, the government had decided to redo the projects, except for the dam portions. The government had come to the conclusion that there was no point in peace-meal approach to the problems dogging both the projects. All the previous attempts to correct the flaws in canals and distributaries in both the projects had failed, the two Ministers said.
Incidentally, Bennethora project was hurriedly inaugurated by the then Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy in July 2006, even though it had not been completed fully, and without conducting a trial run on whether the water reached the farmers’ fields.
The Bennethora project, which had been allocated 5.2 tmcft water, was designed to provide irrigation facility to 20,234 hectares of parched lands in drought-hit Chittapur and Sedam taluks in Gulbarga district. The lower Mullamari project had been allocated 3.08 tmcft water and designed to irrigate 8,100 hectares of land. Both the projects in the Krishna basin would have proved to be a boon to farmers. Chittapur MLA Priyank Kharge blamed what he termed corrupt and inefficient officials for the failure of the Bennethora project. “All the officials working in the project should be removed and a new set of committed officials posted for its early completion,” he said. The Irrigation Department officials said that the work on another long-pending irrigation project at Amarja in Aland taluk was on the verge of completion. Designed to irrigate about 8,900 hectares of land, the project would be completed before the end of March, 2014. Similarly, the construction of FICs in the Bhima Major Lift Irrigation project had been taken up now, they said.
