State seeks Centre's nod for Rs 45K crore water project

Bengaluru: The state government on Thursday sought the Centre’s approval for the Rs 45,000-crore worth drinking water project proposal to supply clean water to villages located near rivers.

A proposal seeking funds to implement the project has been submitted to the centre stated S G Nanjayyanamatt, chairman, Rural Drinking Water Project Implementation Assessment Committee, Karnataka who met Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ramesh Jigajinagi in Delhi seeking approval for the project.

The project aims at addressing the water crisis in several villages located close to rivers. However since it requires huge investment, the state requested the Centre to share the burden, he said adding that the Union Minister has assured to study the proposal in detail.

While demanding that the Centre sanction the remaining amount of the Rs 386 crore allotted to Karnataka under Swachh Bharat Yojana, he also sought an additional Rs 700 crore to build toilets to make the state open defecation free. To make the state open defecation free, another 27 lakh toilets have to be built, he said.