The State Government will take up Jala Shakti, a mega rain water harvesting project, alongside important highways, on the lines of Maharashtra. This project will be taken up along the proposed highways in Nippani and Kittur in Belagavi district and then extended to the entire State, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said in Belagavi on Monday.
“Nitin Gadkari, Union Road Transport Minister, has implemented his ideas for water conservation in Maharashtra. He asked officers to dig up tanks alongside the National Highways and use the excavated mud to build roads. These empty boxes in the land would later serve as all season lakes and tanks. This has led to National Highways turning into large water conservation projects. They have solved drinking problems of several villages, by recharging the groundwater in those places. This unique idea is now being implemented in States like Rajasthan,’’ Mr. Bommai said.
The run off from these tanks will be fed to the lakes and rivers located close to the National Highways and water will thus be effectively utilised, he said. The project would include building of check dams, contour bunding, planting of trees, and creation of other harvesting structures.
Mr. Bommai said the Union Government would soon take up a project to create circuits of tourist, religious and historical significance. When the project is completed, it would be possible to connect towns like Shirdi and Pandharapur in Maharashtra with places like Badami, Aihole, Pattadakal and Vijayapura in Karnataka, he said.
Mr. Gadkari and other dignitaries laid the foundation stone for five projects — Belagavi-Sankeshwar bypass, Sankeshwar bypass upto Maharashtra border, Chorla-Jamboki-Belagavi, Vijayapura-Muragundi (NH 548B), Siddapura-Vijayapura (NH 561A). These projects will be taken up at an estimated cost of ₹3,972 crore.
The Chief Minister requested Mr. Gadkari to speed up pending ring road projects in Hubballi-Dharwad, Belagavi and Raichur. He told him that the State Government would grant GST exemption for development of important road projects and also bear a part of the land acquisition costs. We have developed over 5,000 km of highways in Karnataka since Mr. Gadkari took charge as Union Minister, Mr. Bommai said.
