UNI

Mangalore, Jul 18: Several companies have come forward to set up as many as 13 hydel power projects in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, Fisheries and Muzrai Minister B Nagaraja Shetty has informed.

Addressing newspersons at Uchchur on Sunday, he said companies taking up the projects would be asked to supply drinking water to nearby villages from the dams built by them to generate electricity.

The government would also ensure that agricultural lands were not submerged by these projects, he added.

He said the companies would be asked to give an undertaking in this regard before implementing the projects, which would serve the dual purpose of producing power as well as drinking water crisis, thereby reducing the burden on government of spending crores of rupees on drinking water projects.

Opining that Karnataka should build check dams on the lines of Gujarat, Shetty said check dams not only helped in recharging ground water, but also helped in mitigating the drinking water problem.

Shetty, also the district in-charge minister, said a delegation of state ministers would visit New Delhi to hold a high level meeting with the authorities concerned on long-pending sea wall construction project and other vital issues.

The delegation would comprise the chief minister, the deputy chief minister and ministers in charge of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, and Uttara Kannada. The ministers would finalize the date for their Delhi visit on Tuesday.