From Our Special Correspondent 

Daijiworld Media Network

Bengaluru, Jun 23: Karnataka is open to share the expertise in the area of managing the limited water resources for best of its use with Australia, Water Resources minister M B Patil informed here on Thursday, June 23.

In an interaction meeting with Sean Kelly, Consulate General of Australia (South), the minister said: “We would welcome sharing of experiences with the Australian government in the areas of efficient water usage and achieve best productivity.’’

Unlike in Australia, the supply of water for farming activities was highly subsidisedin the State, the minister said and explained that the State Water Resources Department has taken several measures to prioritise and improve water efficiency in the field of irrigation.

M B Patil

He also highlighted the State’s Ramathal Drip Irrigation project, considered to be one of the largest micro irrigation project in the entire South Asia region.

"The micro Irrigation project would be dedicated to the nation soon" he said.

Appreciating the positive response from the State Government for working with the Australian government on the issue, Kelly said that Australia has achieved significant success in managing the scare water resourcesin the last three decades and offered to share its experiences and expertise with Karnataka.

Kelly said the New South Wales Government in Australia had signed a MoUs with Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh in the areas of integrated water resource management.

He also invited the minister to visit his country and some of the project sites located both in the upstream and downstream states in Australia.