1 week ago
7
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has promised that the ongoing irrigation projects that cover 42 lakh hectares of dry land in the State would be completed shortly and that the State government aims to ensure more irrigation and green coverage.
He was addressing the gathering after flagging off the Rathosta as part of Amba Mahotsav 2026 at Amba Mutt in Somalapur village, Sindhanur taluk of Raichur district on Saturday.
The programme was jointly organised by the taluk administration, taluk panchayat, Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Department, and Sri Amba Devi Management Committee.
“Karnataka has the highest dry land after Rajasthan in the country. The State government has aimed to complete the irrigation projects to help farmers. Out of the proposed 42 lakh hectares, 30 lakh hectares of the dry lands were already irrigated, and the remaining would be completed shortly,” the Chief Minister assured.
“The State government is awaiting a gazette notification to be published by the Union government to use 173 tmcft of water by the State as per the decision in 2013. I myself and the Irrigation Minister had stressed to the Union government for gazette notifications several times. If it is published, the tail-end lands will get irrigated,” he said.
CM appreciated MLA Hampanagouda Badarli for bringing major irrigation projects and said that Sindhanur taluk will get three irrigation projects —Salagundi, Mullur, and Valaballari—at the cost of ₹176 crore to water dry lands. While ₹71 crore is being spent on the Salagundi Lift Irrigation Project, ₹29 crore on the Mullur Lift Irrigation Project, and ₹43 crore on the Valaballari Weir Irrigation Project.
He added that ₹431 crore is being spent on Papayya tunnel work and the installation of 33 new gates for the Tungabhadra dam to ensure adequate water for Khariff crops, as the proposed gate installation work will be completed at the end of June.
The Chief Minister targeted the opposition parties and said that some are falsely saying that the state government has no grant for development works. “The State government is committed to taking development works, including irrigation for farmers, apart, spending over a crore of money for the implementation of five guarantee schemes as promised. So far, ₹1.12 lakh crore has been spent for guarantee schemes, and the aim is to spend ₹52,000 crore this year,” Mr. Siddaramaiah said.
Mr. Siddaramaiah criticised the Union government for repealing MGNREGA and bringing a new law—the Viksit Bharat—Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB—G RAM G) Bill, 2025.
He said, “It will not only damage the prime concept of the MGNREGA, which was brought by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, but also harm women, Dalits, and poor farmers drastically. The Congress and its alliance parties strongly oppose the VB-G RAM G bill, and I would appeal to everybody to oppose it”.
The CM, who claimed that he had made his maiden visit to Ambha Mutt, expressed happiness to get blessed by Amba Devi. He promised that the Sri Amba Mutt will be developed with all facilities. A total of ₹6.30 crore in grants was earmarked, of which ₹2 crore was released and the rest would be released shortly.
Ministers Sharan Prakash Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Ramlinga Reddy, and Shivaraj Tangadagi; MLAs Hampanagouda Badarli, Basanagouda Turvihal, and B.M. Nagaraj; MP Raj Shekhar Itnal; MLCs Basanagouda Badarli and Vasant Kumar; KKRTC Chairman Arun Kumar Patil; Regional Commissioner Zaheera Nasim, Deputy Commissioner Nitish K., Superintendent of Police Arunagnshu Giri, Managing Director of KKRTC B. Susheela, Assistant Commissioner Basavanneppa Kalashetty, Tahasildar Arun Kumar Desai, and others were present.
English (US) ·