Bengaluru: Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple Trust and Kannada film actor Yash will join hands with the government to rejuvenate and safeguard around 30,000 lakes across the state.
Minor Irrigation Minister C.S. Puttaraj told the media that the government has earmarked Rs 100 crore for “Kere Sanjivini” programme this year, and if needed, more money will be released.
Dharmasthala Temple head Mr Veerendra Heggade is keen on joining the programme, while the Yash Foundation of actor Yash is already working on a similar programme in North Karnataka. The government has brought all lakes across the state under minor irrigation department. Of 36,000 notified lakes in the state, around 30,000 are not dry, Mr Puttaraj said.
During a recent meeting, it was decided to take strict action against lake encroachments. The government is also preparing a blueprint on generating revenues locally to rejuvenate the lakes. As a pilot project, around 100 lakes across the state have been identified, he said.
Meanwhile, the department is filling lakes from river water. Due to heavy monsoon, water from dams is also diverted to lakes and tanks on both Cauvery and Krishna basin. However, the water that can be drawn is limited and all the tanks could not be filled. Some water was also diverted to protect standing crop as well as sowing activities. By December, all the tanks will be filled, he said.
Due to the limits of carrying capacity of canals and diversion of water to other purposes, the tanks cannot be filled as and when the department wants. To bypass filling through canals, the government had proposed a Rs 200 crore project, linking all tanks through their traditional storm water drains, he said.
