The Hindu                    14.03.2013

Rs. 4.81-crore plan to ease drinking water problem

Staff Correspondent 

: Members cutting across party lines, while expressing
concern over drinking water scarcity and erratic power supply at the
general body meeting of the zilla panchayat held here on Wednesday,
sought to know the steps initiated to tide over the problems.

Several
villages in the district were facing severe drinking water problem,
owing to depletion of the water table, ahead of the summer and it was
likely to escalate during summer. Therefore, immediate steps should be
taken to overcome the problem. Besides, the zilla panchayat president
should convene a special general body meeting to discuss the issue, they
said.

Dammur Somappa drew attention to the
Tungabhadra river going dry, and said people residing in villages along
the banks of the river were facing severe drinking water crisis and
urged the chair to write a letter to the Tungabhadra Board authorities
to release water into the river.

Gonal
Rajashekargouda wanted the chair to instruct officials to fill up all
the tanks meant for drinking water expeditiously as the date for the
closure of the low level canal was fast approaching.

Manjunath
Nayak, Chief Executive Officer, informed the meeting that a Rs.
4.81-crore contingency plan had been prepared by the task force at the
taluk level headed by the MLA, to ease the drinking water problem in
villages and submitted to the Deputy Commissioner. A sum of Rs. 60 lakh
would be released to each taluk and works could be taken up as and when
the need arises.

Digging of borewells,
hydro-fracturing, undertaking urgent repairs and maintenance of
borewells and extending pipeline, hiring private borewells, and supply
of water through tankers could also be taken up under the contingency
plan, he said.

When members expressed concern over
the State government banning drilling of borewells in Hagari
Bommanahalli taluk and surrounding places, Mr. Nayak said that the issue
would be discussed at the district-level task force committee and
relaxing the rules to dig borewells for drinking water purposes only
would be considered.

With regard to the erratic power
supply followed by frequent power cuts, hampering students’ preparation
for exams, an official from the Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company
(Gescom) said that instead of three-phase power, only two-phase power
would be supplied from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. daily for the benefit of
students and to prevent the use of irrigation pumpsets. “This system
would come into force from Wednesday,” he said.

Sumangala Gubaji, ZP president, was in the chair.