HYDERABAD: The largest drip irrigation project in Asia — the prestigious Ramthal project, successfully executed by Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited (MEIL), will be put into operation on Sunday in Ramthal Marola located in Bagalkot district of Karnataka. The project, which was envisioned by the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigam Limited (KBJNL), was successfully completed by MEIL. The project will be inaugurated by MB Patil, Minister for Water Resources, Karnataka.
MEIL will be in charge of the operation and maintenance of this project for the next five years. A total of 2,150 km length of pipeline was laid for the drip irrigation project that costs Rs 381.50 crore.
The KBJNL initiated the project as not much irrigation water was available for farmers of Ramthal Marola region. MEIL, which had earlier successfully executed the Pattiseema project in Andhra Pradesh in a record time, took over the reins to complete the project.
Using the backwaters of Alimatti project, the scheme will alleviate the hardships faced by the local farmers for many decades in the past. As a part of this drip irrigation scheme, every farmer will receive water through a cylinder installed in their respective farmlands. All the required fertilizers and pesticides can also mixed and put into the cylinder. This system will help in eliminating water wastage. The technology used in this project will also purify the wastage that flows in the backwaters of River Krishna.
The officials of the Karnataka Water Resources Department clarified that this project will reduce water usage, pesticide usage, costs, and increase yields for the farmers. This is the first project in India built with the Israeli drip irrigation technology. The pipeline system for this project was laid underground and the pipes for this project are made of fiber optic material and last for more than 50 years.