Kagwad MLA pays Rs 3.5 cr from pocket to complete lift irrigation project

CHIKKODI: Even as Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai prepares to present his budget for the state on Friday, Kagwad MLA Shrimanth Patil put the government in an embarrassing position by giving Rs 3.5 crore to a contractor from his sugar factory to complete the work on a lift irrigation project.

The Basaveshwara lift irrigation project at Kempawada village in Kagwad Assembly constituency is almost complete and some electrical work needs to be taken up before the planned inauguration in early March.

Shrimanth Patil holding a meeting with officials and the contractors.

Speaking while handing over the cheque to Salimath Contractors and Yukta Electricals Engineering, Shrimanth Patil said, “Forty two villages in the constituency are drought-prone and this project will be a lifeline. The project will be a lifeline and only a little more work needs to be done. We held a meeting with the department engineers and contractors. We plan to inaugurate the project on March 5 and provide water to the villages and for no reason should there be any delay”.

“Since release of funds from the government will take time, I am giving Rs 3.5 crore from my Athani Sugars factory so that the work should not be delayed. The contractors have also promised that all the work will be completed within the scheduled inauguration”, he said.