15 barrages across Bhima planned

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, FEB. 12. The State Government has decided to construct 15 barrages across the Bhima at an estimated cost of Rs. 140 crores within the next two years.

While work on four barrages in Bijapur has already commenced, efforts are on to identify the places for the construction of the remaining 11 barrages in Gulbarga District.

The Minister for Major and Medium Irrigation, Mr. H.K.Patil, told presspersons here on Monday that the four barrages in Bijapur District would cost around Rs. 14 crores.

He said around eight tmcft. of water could be stored in these barrages after their completion.

Mr. Patil said following the meeting of the all-party delegation, led by the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M.Krishna, with the Maharashtra Chief Minister recently on the release of water from the Bhima to meet the drinking water needs of the people of Bijapur, some progress had been made with official-level meetings between the two States.

Mr. Patil said a meeting of the Chief Secretaries of the two States had evolved a formula for release of water which was followed by a meeting of the Chief Engineers of the two States. The Chief Engineers had also inspected the places for the release of the water from the Bhima.

He said both the teams, led by the Chief Engineer of Maharashtra, Mr. V.B.Gaikwad, and the Chief Engineer of Karnataka, Mr. N.K.Chavan, had submitted their reports to the respective governments. Ahuj, Khorasgaon, Gulalsagar, Ujgaon and Sundarlal Kati were some of the places the two teams visited on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border.

Mr. Patil said the State Government would convene another all- party meeting to discuss the matter before the commencement of the legislature session on February 26.

It is learnt that Maharashtra is faced with a peculiar problem in releasing water from the Bhima as it involved the release of water from the Koyna Dam. If only a little quantity of water is released from the dam it would not reach Bijapur, a distance of about 300 km, and if a major quantity of water is released, then more water need to be stored in the Koyna Dam which is not advisable as it is an earthquake-prone region. The quake in 1993 is said to be due to storage of more water in the dam.

Mr. Patil said the matter would be discussed at the all-party meeting and a decision would be taken for the early release of water from the Bhima to meet the drinking water needs of the people of Bijapur.

Mr. Patil clarified that there was no threat to his life as reported in a section of the press.

He said neither his office nor his residence had received any threat calls.

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Section  : Southern States
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