The Karnataka Cabinet has permitted a non-governmental organisation (NGO) to raise Rs 2,600 crore for rejuvenation of the Dakshina Pinakini river.
The Dakshina Pinakini River Rejuvenation Trust will take up various projects to revive the river in a bid to use it as a source for drinking water and agriculture. The move will not only help farmers cultivate two crops a year in one of the most-parched regions, but also address water woes in parts of Bengaluru Urban district, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, among others.
The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 2,600 crore. Of this, Rs 600 crore is towards project development, Rs 900 crore towards reviving small irrigation tanks, Rs 900 crore towards reviving tanks in towns, Rs 100 crore for cost of shifting to organic farming and Rs 100 crore for setting up Centre of Excellence.
The permission will allow the NGO to approach various philanthropic organisations and seek Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for the ambitious project.
The project will rejuvenate about 3,000 small irrigation tanks, watershed development, revive depleting groundwater sources in the south-western parts of the state and so on.
However, the state government has also introduced conditional clauses for the project such as the Trust will have to take permission from authorities concerned while taking up rejuvenation works. Also, if similar projects are undertaken by the government, the Trust will have to merely augment them.