“The government of Karnataka has taken a decision to release water from Hidkal dam to Dharwad industrial area. We have to abide by the decision. However, officials should make sure that all rules and regulations are followed while releasing water, and see that there is no drinking water scarcity,” district in-charge Minister Satish Jarkiholi said in Belagavi on July 8.

“All the officials are well aware that all stipulated criteria are to be met before releasing water to industrial areas. They should follow those rules at all times,” he told reporters.

To a query on officials exceeding the amount of water released from the dam to industries, the Minister said he would gather information about the issue, and instruct officials to stick to the stipulated limits.

“Following protests by farmers, we had opposed release of water from Hidkal dam. But the government of Karnataka has cleared the proposal after getting information from officials. As of now, around 0.58 tmcft of water will be released to Dharwad industrial area. The work has started as KIADB has been awarded contracts. We need to implement this work now,” he said.

The Minister expressed concern over the delay in execution of irrigation projects in Belagavi district and the region. He told officials to expedite all projects. He told Irrigation Department officials to ensure that a region of at least 200 km benefits from each scheme.

“In 2018, then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had approved a project to fill up 39 lakes in Raibag taluk at a cost of ₹100 crore. This is 99% complete. It will benefit the rain-fed areas of Raibag taluk. Important work launched during the (2013-18) tenure of Siddaramaiah earlier are nearing completion, and will be inaugurated by the CM soon. The CM will also inaugurate construction of the new DC office and the Hudali flyover,” the Minister said.

All the reservoirs in the district have already been filled, and it has been decided to release 5,000 cusecs of water from the Hidkal reservoir from July 9. He said that 80,000 cusecs of water is currently flowing into the Krishna river.

MLA Duryodhan Aihole, ZP CEO Rahul Shinde, and district-level officials of the Irrigation Department were present.