The Union government has released a sum of Rs 868 crore to take up minor irrigation projects in the drought-affected taluks of the State.

The State government had submitted a proposal to take up about 493 different minor irrigation projects in 81 drought-affected taluks at a cost of Rs 685 crore. Of these, the Centre approved 404 projects to be taken up in five phases, Secretary to Minor Irrigation Department P N Srinivasachary said.

‘Outsourcing supply will see tariffs skyrocketing’

Day Two of the Bangalore World Water Summit saw a parallel summit being organised by Peoples Campaign for Right to Water, which sees a move to privatise water supply in the agenda of such meets.

Slum-dwellers, under the banners of Slum Janandalona and Jilla Kolageri Nivasigala Okkuta, on Tuesday lodged a protest against the move to privatise distribution of drinking water in urban areas, demanding that the Government stop the maintenance and distribution of drinking water by private agencies working on pilot basis.

It was pushed through at the Cabinet meeting

A day after the Finance department took exception to the incomplete Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Upper Krishna Project-III, it has come to light that the Water Resources department has paid a whopping Rs 1.7 crore to a Bangalore-based firm to prepare the report.

The Finance department had, on Tuesday, informed the State Cabinet that the DPR neither had details of the Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) nor specifications about funding pattern of the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 17,207 crore.

The 134.88 sq km area of Chincholi forest in Karnataka has now been declared South India’s first dryland wildlife sanctuary to protect the prime wolf and hyena habitat.

The Karnataka State Forest Department notified the forest on November 28, marking another step by Karnataka to conserve prime wolf and hyena habitat of Chincholi forest spread across Gulbarga and Yadgir districts. It will be named as the ‘Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary.’

The 134.88 sq km area of Chincholi forest in Karnataka has now been declared as South India’s first dryland wildlife sanctuary to protect the prime wolf and hyena habitat.

The Karnataka State Forest Department notifying the forest on November 28, marking another step by Karnataka to conserve prime wolf and hyena habitat of Chincholi forest spread across Gulbarga and Yadgir district in the Karnataka. It will be named as the ‘Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary.’

The State government will take up the Upper Krishna Phase-3 project, which envisages irrigating about 5.3 lakh hectares, in the current financial year, Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda said on Friday.

Speaking to reporters after holding a meeting with the leaders of Opposition, Siddaramaiah and Motamma, the chief minister said soon after obtaining the Cabinet approval for the detailed project report prepared by the Krishna Bhagya Jala Nigama Limited, the government will initiate the process of implementing the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 17,207 crore.

Govt, Infosys enter into an agreement to build 10,000 toilets designed by software engineer
There’s relief in the pipeline for the residents of Gulbarga’s villages. For, their embarrassment of answering the call of nature in the open may soon be flushed down the eco-sanitation dry compost toilets, designed by native technocrat Sharan Desai.

The suspension of mining activities in the State has cost about Rs 4,000 crore to the exchequer, Chief Minister D Sadananda Gowda has said.
Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, Gowda said that about one lakh people have lost jobs due to the ban on mining in the State. “However, it is not possible to re-start mining.

Census 2011:
Rapid urbanisation sees dip in numbers since the last headcount
Of the 6.11 crore population in Karnataka, 61.43 per cent live in rural areas, but their number has drastically declined since the last Census, giving an indication of the increased preference of the people to shift to cities.

According to the Census of India