CM: 25% state budget reserved for irrigation

To overcome the severe drought in the state, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Wednesday announced that the government has decided to allocate 25 percent of the state’s budget for irrigation, water conversation and allied activities. Replying to the two debate on the drought crisis in the legislative Assembly, the CM said, “The state has identified 105 small irrigation projects, which can be completed within a year’s time, to help resolve the water shortage problem of more than 2,200 villages.” Describing the seriousness of the situation, Mr Chavan said, “To provide water in the drought-prone areas 2,136 water tankers have been pressed into service this year in February as against the 230 that were deployed last year. He expressed fears that the situation was likely to get worse with the number of tankers reaching 4,000.” A total of 43 legislators had participated in the two-day debate, which started on Tuesday in the Assembly. The CM admitted that at many places farmers are found involved in the theft of water. “We have deployed police personnel at such areas, but such cases continue to be reported,” he said.