Rejuvenation of waterbodies and constructing more vented dams across major and minor rivers are in the offing in Dakshina Kannada as a district-level committee approved the district irrigation plan under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) here on Tuesday.
All irrigation plans of the government have been brought under one platform under the yojana which is effective for five years from 2017-18.
Placing details of the district irrigation plan, at a meeting presided over by B. Ramanath Rai, Minister in-charge of Dakshina Kannada, H. Kempe Gowda, Joint Director, Department of Agriculture, said that as many as 2.08 lakh irrigation works have been proposed under the plan in five years from the next financial year costing about Rs. 6,000 crore.
The works will include constructing farm ponds, lift irrigation projects, rejuvenating tanks, drip and sprinkler irrigation, vented dams and the like.
Mr. Gowda said that the receding monsoon waters in rivers would be tapped in vented dams between November and December to augment water for summer and recharge of ground water. Monsoon waters in rivers from June to October would be allowed to flow naturally to sea. It can’t be tapped.
Giving statistics he said that 0.432 billion cubic meters (BCM) of water is available in the district now against the demand, including for domestic, industrial and irrigation, for 0.395 BCM of water.
The projected demand for 2020 would be 0.487 BCM of water. The works worth about Rs. 6,000 crore proposed would augment an additional 1.08 BCM of water.
Mr. Rai asked the district administration to send the district irrigation plan to the State government for approval. The government would incorporate it in its plan for the whole State and send it to the Union government for approval.
K.G. Jagadeesha, Deputy Commissioner, instructed Tourism Department officials to start work on developing Someshwar, Ullal, Surathkal and Talapady beaches within a month by getting administrative and technical approvals from the government.
A department official told the meeting that it has been proposed to develop the beaches at an estimated Rs. 13.72 crore.
It included landscape, solid waste management and other works.
