The controversial Mekedatu water reservoir project, which could provide 284,000 million cubic feet (TMC) of drinking water from River Cauvery, will commence by the end of 2022, Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai told News18 in an exclusive interview.
It is for the first time that the chief minister has given a deadline by which the Mekedatu dam will be built. To put pressure on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the opposition Congress had taken out a padayatra, seeking immediate implementation of the water reservoir project, failing which Bengaluru would be parched.
Karnataka is once again at loggerheads with Tamil Nadu over sharing water, if this project implemented.
The CM also spoke of the new schemes which he presented in his maiden budget on March 5.
Excerpts:
Your budget has touched every sector and made allocations too. Given the deficit and surplus, is it possible to achieve your target?
Certainly, every programme I have continued or added as a new programme, I am conscious about the money it needs and what it takes to implement it. These factors are at the back of my mind and I am 100% sure that I will be able to achieve my targets.
You have allocated Rs 1,000 crore for Mekedatu, when can we expect the project to come up?
Everything is in public domain, the detailed project report (DPR) is there and very quickly it will be through, as it has already reached the Cauvery water management board and they will move shortly on that. Environmental clearances may take a bit of time, but I am confident that we will start the Mekedatu project in this current year.
Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat also said he will help in the dialogue with Tamil Nadu. Do you plan to bring it by the end of this year?
I am confident that it will be up this year.
You have allocated more than 12% of your budget towards the education sector. A lot of students go to study abroad, even Ukraine, as it is expensive in Karnataka and India.
When I was making the budget, that was not on my mind. However, I had a little time. I was worried about the medical education of our children. In a short time, I have tried to address it. It may be a long reach, but we are trying to finance medical fees through loans. We will also upgrade medical colleges in A, B and C cities and bring down the fees as much as possible. Holistically, we have to try a different approach.
Is there financial pressure on the government?
There is no pressure. I was confident that resource mobilisation without tax is possible. There are gaps, and if we fill them, certainly the tax efforts will yield a lot of resources. I have tried it in the past four months and have been successful. I am confident that without tax too, resource management, as mentioned in my budget, will be achieved.
The highlight of your budget is the Punyakoti scheme, a unique one where people can adopt a cow. Can it be implemented on ground?
Certainly, it all started on January 20, my birthday. My family decided to celebrate it by adopting a cow. We spoke to people and they said we need Rs 11,000 to take care of it. We adopted around 11 cows. I thought if this can be done, then we can care for all cows and buffaloes this way. We have goshalas as a support system and it is a ‘punya kaarya’. It can be an example for the entire country. We will get tremendous response for it.
Will Namma Clinics, like mohalla clinics, help handle the pandemic better?
During the pandemic, getting many preliminary tests done was difficult for people. I thought there should be a preliminary medical centre for initial testing. In a pandemic, if you identify issues early, a lot of problems can be solved. That was the trigger for Namma Clinics.
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