News Source: Deccan Chronicle

BENGALURU: To improve existing irrigation methods and agricultural productivity in the state, state government in association with 2030 Water Resources Group have come up with the idea of ‘Multi Stakeholder Platform for Water’.

On Monday a steering committee was launched with stakeholders from the public and private sector, the civil society, the industrial sector and academia with an intention to make transformations to the existing water management systems.

“This is an initiative to find a new approach to improve existing irrigation methods and agricultural productivity in the state. The 2030 WRG has provided a platform for all units of the Water Resources Department to work together on the agrarian crisis that Karnataka faces,” said Gurupad Swamy, Secretary, Water Resources department.

He added that one of the key aspects of this project is to get farmers to switch from flow irrigation to drip irrigation.

Rakesh Singh, principal secretary of water resources department said, “Karnataka is among India’s most water stressed states as over 26 per cent of its groundwater is overexploited. Two largest economically most important river basins-Krishna and Cauvery have reached the point at which water demand exceeds supply. This indicates that the state needs to adopt better water management practices.” “The Government is the lead partner in this project.”