Cabinet okays Mundargi irrigation project

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, DEC. 14. The State Cabinet today decided to take up the Mundargi-Singatallur Irrigation Project at an estimated cost of Rs. 595 crores, to irrigate about 1,67,000 acres of land in the drought-prone areas of Bellary, Gadag and Koppal districts.

Briefing presspersons on the Cabinet decision here today, the Minister for Major and Medium Irrigation, Mr. H.K. Patil, said that the project would be taken up by the Karnataka Irrigation Corporation, and this year it had provided Rs. 79 crores for the project. He said a canal of about 139 km would be constructed on the left bank and 32 km on the right bank to utilise 18 tmcft. of Tunga waters for the project. The 18 tmcft. would include one tmcft. to be made available for the Vijayanagar Steel Plant. Mr. Patil said that the project would be completed in three years and the funds raised from market borrowings. The project, he mentioned, had been talked about for nearly 12 years now.

The Minister said the Government would provide Rs. 5.37 crores for the modernisation of the Ramaswamy Anicut in Koppalu village near Srirangapatna. This year, Rs. 3 crores was sanctioned for the project. The Minister of State for Information and Publicity, Prof. B.K. Chandrashekar, said the Cabinet had decided to give a one-time approval for teachers teaching in high schools to teach in junior colleges, provided they had a post-graduate qualification. This approval, he said, would benefit 419 teachers in the State.

The Cabinet also decided to sell the ailing State-run Mysore Lamp Works Limited for which it will be floating a global tender. In case there were no worthwhile bids, the Government would offer voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) to its employees and wind up the company. The tender process might take about three months, Prof. Chandrashekar said.

There are about 1,500 employees in Mysore Lamps which has an accumulated loss of Rs. 46.93 crores.

The Minister for Agriculture, Mr. T.B. Jayachandra, said the Government was seized of the falling prices of farm produce and had decided to pressure the Food Corporation of India to procure farm produce. The Chief Minister, he said, would be meeting with officials of the FCI tomorrow to sort out the issue.

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Section  : Southern States
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