South Bengaluru MP and BJP youth wing president Tejasvi Surya on Wednesday said that โน5000-crore Upper Bhadra Irrigation Project โ announced in the Union Budget โ will be a game changer in boosting irrigation coverage in his home state of Karnataka.
Speaking to The New Indian soon after finance minister Nirmala Sitharamanโs Budget speech, the young lawmaker thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for showing sensitivity towards the plight of farmers in northern parts of Karnataka.
โThere has been a demand for such a project for a long time, but it fell on deaf ears of successive governments at the Centre. Thanks to PM Modiโs sensitivity, many arid districts in northern parts of Karnataka are going to be benefitted. I thank PM for this important announcement,โ he said.
He called the new irrigation scheme a โgame changerโ.
Reading out the Budget in the Lok Sabha, finance minister Sitharaman said, โIn the drought-prone central regions of Karnataka, central assistance of โน5,300 crores will be given to the Upper Bhadra irrigation project to provide sustainable micro irrigation and filling up of tanks for drinking water.โ
Karnataka is one of the most water-stressed states in India, with around 61 per cent of its geographical area being categorised as a drought-prone region.
As per the Central Research Institute of Dryland Agriculture, 16 out of 30 districts in the southern state are among 24 districts that have been declared โeternally drought-proneโ.
Even Rajasthan fares better than Karnataka in terms of irrigation coverage.
Hassan, Kolar, Davangere, Belagavi, Bagalkot, and Bengaluru Rural are among the districts of Karnataka categorised as permanently drought-prone.
Lauding the efforts of PM Modi to expand cultivation area in the country, MP Surya said that the prime minister has been pushing for increasing irrigation coverage since he was chief minister of Gujarat.
โThe way he brought the water of the Narmada river to large parts of Gujarat shows his commitment to increasing irrigation coverage in the country,โ the BJP leader said.
He also hailed finance minister Sitharaman for increasing the tax rebate on taxable income to โน7 lakhs per annum from โน5 lakhs per annum under the new tax regime.
โWith the economy increasing and a large number of people entering the middle class, this is a very important rebate, especially for the first-time salaried people who are just entering the market. They will be benefitted immensely. It is an increase of about โน2 lakhs,โ the Lok Sabha MP said.
