NEW DELHI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India on Monday signed a 91 million U.S. dollars loan to modernize an irrigation system in southern state of Karnataka, official sources said.
The loan would also help the state in preparing river basin management plans in the 'Krishna River Basin' that will help improve irrigation water use efficiency and contribute to improving sustainable water security in Karnataka.
After the signing ceremony between the two sides, a top official in Ministry of Finance Sameer Kumar Khare said that the investment program would help the state government in strengthening its institutions involved in integrated water resource management and modernizing the irrigation system infrastructure for improving water use efficiency in the state.
ADB's Country Director Kenichi Yokoyama said that this project loan would continue to strengthen state and basin institutions for the "Integrated and Sustainable Water Resources Management Investment Program (IWRM)" and finance the modernization of Vijayanagara Channels by upgrading headworks and about 442 kilometers of main, distributaries and minor canals.
The project interventions are also tackling inefficient water use in agriculture that accounts for over 84 percent of the state's total water use.
This will improve water availability to meet the rising demand from other users in the state. About 30 water user cooperative societies will also be established and strengthened for improving their farmer irrigation canals under the second project.
