Stating that ₹1 lakh crore is needed to fund ongoing and completed irrigation works in the State, Water Resources Minister Govind M. Karjol on Monday said that ₹9,998.95 crore worth of bill payments are pending for the works executed in the Water Resources Department. The Yettinahole project alone has pending bills to a tune of ₹3,600 crore.
"Depending on the availability of funds in the department, bill payment will be made. The high amount of pending bills was due to tight finances caused by COVID-19 pandemic," he told the Legislative Council. Responding to a question by Janata Dal (Secular) member B.M. Farooq, he said that bills to a tune of ₹1,312 crore in Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam, ₹4,058 crore in Karnataka Neeravari Nigam, ₹1,355 crore in Cauvery Neeravari Nigam and ₹3,273 crore in Visvesvaraya Jala Nigam were pending for payment. He said so far ₹10,967 crore has been paid during this financial year.
Mismatch in allocation
The Minister said that the high pendency in payment was due to a mismatch in the works executed and the budgetary allocation made to the department over the years. “In many cases , though token amount was allocated in the Budget to undertake DPR, survey or plan estimates, the local political representatives bring pressure to complete technical approval and floating of tenders. Though not part of the Budget, the work would start,” he added.
Providing figures from 2013-2014, Mr. Karjol said that the pending bills were ₹719 crore in 2013-14, which has been only increasing since then. "In 2016-17, the pending bills was ₹8,887 crore and in 2020-21 it was ₹7,092 crore. It has reached ₹9,998.95 crore due to financial constraints in the pandemic," he added.
The Minister also pointed out that though Karnataka can bring 22 lakh hectares under irrigation — more than what is anticipated under all the current projects — the allocation of money is a problem. "We are trying to clear bills on priority and in phases."
On Yettinahole:
To a question raised by Rajendra Rajanna on the Yettinahole project that is to help seven districts overcome water shortage, the Minister said that the construction of reservoir at Bairagundlu in the border of Koratagere-Doddaballapur taluks in Tumakuru and Bengaluru Rural districts respectively has been stalled due to problems in land acquisition as farmers in Koratagere have demanded equivalent compensation to that of farmers in Doddaballapur.
“Nearly 95% of the work taken up in first phase at a cost of ₹3,716 crore has been completed. About 70% of the work on gravity canals has been completed.” he said.
