Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who holds the irrigation portfolio on Tuesday sought approvals and financial aid for six new irrigation projects in Karnataka besides appealing for approvals and release of funds for existing irrigation projects.

The deputy chief minister called on the Union Water Resource Minister C.R. Patil and submitted an appeal on Tuesday, a statement issued by his office said.

The submissions sought funding for six fresh proposals, estimated to cost Rs 11,123 crore, under the Prime Minister Irrigation Scheme, it said.

The six new proposals are: flood management and border area programme at Bennehalla; creation of fresh irrigation potential of 16,000 hectares under Sonthi lift irrigation project across Bhima river; Extension, Renovation and Modernisation (ERM) works at Malaprabha canal systems, Indi branch canal under Upper Krishna project, Ghataprabha right bank canal, Chikkodi branch canal and Tungabhadra left bank canal. These proposed projects will benefit Vijayapura, Dharwad, Belagavi, Bagalkot, Gadag, Koppal and Raichur districts.

Shivakumar also raised issues about other existing irrigation projects in Karnataka - approvals for Mekedatu project, central assistance for the Upper Bhadra project, Gazette notification for Krishna Water Distribution Tribunal-II award, clearance for Kalasa-Bhanduri canal projects, diversion of surplus water from Mahanadi-Godavari basin to Krishna-Cauvery and Pennar-Palar basin.

He informed the Union minister that he would shortly submit a proposal for the automation of dams and canal systems to enhance efficient irrigation management.

Patil asked Shivakumar to resubmit the Yettinahole drinking water project proposal through the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department for consideration under the Jal Jeevan Mission of the Union government. The proposal was submitted through the Irrigation department.

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Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.

The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.

"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.

"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.

Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.

As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.

Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.

Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.

He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.

Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".