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.