Addressing a press conference in Bangalore on Friday, Water Resources Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the amendments to the legislation will be tabled in the forthcoming Legislature Session. Presently, membership to Water Users’ Cooperation Society, which manages the equitable use and distribution of water for agriculture in command area, is voluntary.
Members of the societies are local farmers who are given training in water utilisation, agriculture crop management and water scheduling so that they make the best use of available water.
The concept was first launched in the year 2000 and as many as 2,557 Water Users’ Co-op Societies have so far been constituted. Of these, 1,406 have entered into a MoU with water resources department. He said there was scope for establishing more than 6,000 societies across the State.
The societies can collect user charges based on the cropping pattern, volumetric use of water and also watering cycles. There is a potential to collect Rs 25 to Rs 30 crore as user charge and the amount is utilised for maintenance and undertaking of repairs of the canal, removing silt, Bommai said.