Deputy Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Monday that airports in Gulbarga, Bijapur, Hassan, Shimoga and at Mysore would be functional by this year end.
   Speaking to reporters, Yediyurappa said that the government had already acquired 567 acres of land at Srinivas Saradgi on the outskirts of Gulbarga on Sedam road to set up the airport.
   However, as an Airport Authority of India (AAI) team, which had inspected the place, had sought an additional 125 acre, measures had been initiated towards acquiring this extra land, he said. Towards acquiring this excess land, Rs 2.50 crore was needed, and the district administration had already been provided Rs 1 crore, he gave details.
   When pointed out that the AAI was yet to accord sanction for the airport, the deputy chief minister stated that the AAI would sanction the airport only after all the infrastructure was provided. Moreover, he stated that the Indian Air Force had agreed to allow the use of its airport at Bidar for civilian use.
Mahadayi issue
   Reacting to Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s recent statement during campaigning in Goa that the Congress opposed the Mahadayi project, through which drinking water was to be supplied to Hubli-Dharwad, Yediyurappa said the government was thinking of initiating contempt proceedings against Ms Sonia as this issue was in the Supreme Court.
   He said, nearly 200 TMC ft (thousand million cubic feet) of water was being wasted in Mahadayi river. Considering this, Karnataka had decided to utilise around 7.56 TMCft for drinking water purpose, through which Hubli-Dharwad, and scores of villages would be benefited.
   "Moreover, there is a clear ruling from the Supreme Court that permission of the Central Water Commission (CWC) was not needed if the utilisation of the water was for drinking purpose," he added.
Irrigation projects
   Regarding the pending irrigation projects in the state, he said, last year, the government had resolved to complete 39 pending projects, of which 37 had been completed, bringing 1.27 lakh hectares of land under irrigation.
   This year, Rs 4,630 crore had been allotted towards the completion of 19 major and medium irrigation projects. "Another Rs 900 crore had been allotted for the minor irrigation projects," he added.