Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was addressing the gathering after marking the Rathostav at Amba Mutt in Somalapur village of Raichur district on Saturday. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has promised that the ongoing irrigation projects covering 42 thousand hectares of dry land in the state will be completed soon and that the state government aims to provide more irrigation and green cover.
He was addressing the gathering after flagging off Rathosta as part of Amba Mahotsav 2026 at Amba Mutt in Somalapur village, Sindhanur taluk of Raichur district on Saturday.
The program was jointly organized by the taluk administration, taluk panchayat, Hindu religious institutions and charity department and Sri Amba Devi management committee.
“Karnataka has the highest dry land in the country after Rajasthan. The state government aims to complete irrigation projects to help farmers. Out of the proposed 42 million hectares, 30 million hectares of dryland areas have already been irrigated and the rest will be completed soon,” assured the Chief Minister.
“The state government is waiting for a gazette notification to be published by the Union government to use 173 tmcft of water by the state as per the 2013 decision. I myself and the irrigation minister have emphasized to the Union government several times that it will be published. If it is published, land at the end of the country will be irrigated,” he said.
Appreciating MLA Hampanagouda Badarli for bringing in major irrigation projects, the CM said Sindhanur taluk would get three irrigation projects — Salagundi, Mullur and Valaballari — at a cost of ₹ 176 crore to irrigate dry areas. While ₹71 crore is being spent on the Salagundi Lift Irrigation Project, ₹29 crore on the Mullur Lift Irrigation Project and ₹43 crore on the Valaballari Dam Irrigation Project.
He added that ₹431 crore is being spent on Papayya tunnel work and installation of 33 new gates for Tungabhadra dam to ensure sufficient water for Khariff crops as the proposed gate installation work will be completed by June end.
Targeting the opposition parties, the Chief Minister said that some are falsely saying that the state government does not have a grant for development works. “The state government is committed to earmark development works, including irrigation for farmers, and spend more than a million to implement five guarantee schemes as promised. So far ₹ 1.12 crore has been spent on guarantee schemes and the target is to spend ₹ 52,000 crore this year,” Mr Siddaramaiah said.
Mr Siddaramaiah criticized the Union government for scrapping MGNREGA and bringing in a new law – Viksit Bharat – Rozgar and Ajeevika (Gramin) Mission Guarantee (VB – G RAM G) Bill, 2025.
He said, “It will not only harm the core concept of MGNREGA brought by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but will also drastically harm women, dalits and poor farmers. Congress and its alliance parties strongly oppose the VB-G RAM G Bill and I would appeal to all to oppose it.”
The CM, who claimed to have visited the Ambha Mutt for the first time, expressed happiness that he was blessed by Amba Devi. He promised that Sri Amba Mutt will be developed with all facilities. A total of ₹ 6.30 crore has been earmarked in grants of which ₹ 2 crore has been released and the rest will be released shortly.
Ministers Sharan Prakash Patil, Satish Jarkiholi, Ramlinga Reddy and Shivaraj Tangadagi; MLAs Hampanagouda Badarli, Basanagouda Turvihal and BM Nagaraj; MP Raj Shekhar Itnal; MLCs Basanagouda Badarli and Vasant Kumar; KKRTC Chairman Arun Kumar Patil; Regional Commissioner Zaheera Nasim, Deputy Commissioner Nitish K, Superintendent of Police Arunagnshu Giri, KKRTC Managing Director B. Susheela, Deputy Commissioner Basavanneppa Kalashetty, Tahasildar Arun Kumar Desai and others were present.
Published – 03 Jan 2026 20:33 IST
