According to figures revealed by the minister for minor irrigation and planning, Govind Karjol, in the legislative council on Wednesday, the government is struggling to recover a vast number of them. In his reply to JD(S) MLC Marithibbe Gowda, he said 19 tanks covering a total area of 1288.72 hectares have been encroached upon. Of these the government has managed to clear only six and action has been initiated for an additional four lakes. However, the remaining nine tanks still remain outside the long arm of the State government. Karjol said that action will be initiated immediately to identify the encroachment and recover the land.
Recovery in phases
A further 58 tanks out of a total of 162 in Hassan district have been identified as encroached. The minister in his reply to Congress MLC S M Anand stated that the recovery of the tanks is happening in phases. He added that identification of encroachment was proving to be difficult mainly due to the shortage in surveyors and the government was doing its best to notify as many surveyors as possible.
Encroachment of four tanks in Bhadravathi, Shimoga and Sagar taluks of Shimoga district have also been identified.
Karjol once again promised action in his reply to senior MLC Mir Aziz Ahmed.
Meanwhile, the minister assured that the first phase of filling and developing some of the tanks will be completed in three years. And the survey of tanks for the second phase of the project will be completed by December.
Amount for tanks
A total of Rs 108.99 crore has been sanctioned for the development of 16 tanks in Bijapur district, which will be implemented by the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigama Limited.
Responding to allegations from the Opposition that only very small portion of the money has been released, Karjol accepted that only Rs 12.5 crore has been released but added that the money will be made available as and when work is completed.