The Hindu 03.07.2013
24×7 drinking water: proposal to cover entire city before panel
Municipal Administration and Wakf Minister Qamar-ul
Islam has said the proposal for a 24×7 drinking water supply project to
cover the whole of Gulbarga city is awaiting approval from the State
government. The Rs. 479-crore proposal is before the screening committee
of the Urban Development Department.
Proposal
Addressing
a press conference here on Monday, Mr. Islam said that as per the
proposal prepared by the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and
Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), the requirement of 105 mld of water would
be met by drawing water from the Bennethora.
At
present, the major portion of the drinking water requirement is met by
drawing water from the Bhima. In addition, water is drawn from the
Bennethora.
Mr. Islam said that the proposal had also
been submitted to the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, for
evaluation of technical viability.
After getting
clearance from the screening committee and the evaluation by the IISc,
the proposal would be sent to the Union government for financial
assistance.
As per the proposals prepared by the
KUIDFC, Mr. Islam said the water would be drawn by laying a new pipeline
from Bennethora Dam at Harsur in Chittapur taluk and a new filter bed
with capacity to filter more than 105 mld at a time would be installed
at Salam Tekdi locality. From there, the filtered water would be stored
in Gulbarga in overhead and ground-level reservoirs.
Mr.
Islam said that once the screening committee cleared the proposal,
permission would be obtained from the Water Resources Department to draw
water from Bennethora Dam. Water drawn from the Bhima and available
water in the filter stations would be used to supply drinking water to
new localities that have come up on the outskirts of Gulbarga.
Mr.
Islam thanked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Agriculture Minister
Sharad Pawar and Railway Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge for overruling
the decision of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP)
and increasing the minimum support price (MSP) for red gram from Rs.
3,850 a quintal to Rs. 4,300 a quintal.
The proposal to increase the MSP to Rs. 4,500 was rejected by the CACP.
‘Support for farmers’
“The
State government will protect the interests of red gram growers and
intervene in the event of a fall in the prices of red gram,” he said.
Congress councillors Bhim Reddy Patil and Agsar Chulbul were present.
