MYSURU: KRS reservoir is brimming with water and lakhs of cusecs of water were released to Tamil Nadu but there is no water in 35 per cent of tanks in Mandya district.
Disclosing this at the Karnataka Development Programme review meeting held in Mandya, Minor Irrigation Minister C S Puttaraju said officials have not shown interest in filling up the tanks.
Expressing displeasure over the delay, he said he wanted to know reasons for the delay in releasing water to irrigation canals. He said water in Visveshwaraiah canal would help save standing crops and take up paddy transplantation and he stressed the need of filling up tanks as there is no rain in Cauvery achukat. Legislators from Mandya took the irrigation officials to task and said failure to give water in tail-end areas has hit paddy cultivation.
MLA Annadhani said more than 50 per cent of farmers have not transplanted paddy seedlings.
Minister D C Thamanna said the water has not reached Maddur, Malavalli and Nagamangala taluks and no efforts have been made to fill up the tanks.
He said there is no co-ordination between irrigation engineers and employees and they have no information on the area of cultivation, requirement of water and other basic information.
Criticising the officials for failing to adopt modern technology and fix electronic gates, he said the water has not been released to canals despite completion of modernisation work. Minister C S Puttaraju said they have not stopped discharge of water from KRS, but irrigation officials have failed in water management. Deputy Commissioner Manju Shree said the irrigation officials should make use of the task force to ensure that water reaches tail-end areas.
Puttaraju said he will hold a meeting of the Cauvery Niravari Nigam Ltd MD and Irrigation officials from Cauvery and Hemavathi to discuss the tank filling up issue.