Karnataka - Hassan   

Rs. 87-cr. worth drinking water project launched

Hassan: Shobha Karandlaje, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, launched a drinking water project at Byrambudi, a fluoride-affected village in Arsikere taluk on Saturday.

Speaking on the occasion, she said there are 21,000 villages in the State that do not have basic amenities, including safe drinking water. About 14,000 villages are affected by fluoride.

About 540 fluoride-affected villages in Arsikere and Belur taluks in Hassan district will be provided safe drinking water from the Yagachi River at a cost of Rs. 87 crore. A sum of Rs. 18.8 crore has already been released for the purpose, she added.

Ms. Karandlaje said that the priority of the Government was to provide safe drinking water to villages. In the first phase, work on drinking water project will be taken up in 12 villages in Belur taluk and 58 villages in Arsikere taluk for which Rs. 18.8 crore had already been released under the Rajiv Gandhi Water Mission.Work would be completed by October 2011.

In the second and third phases, work will be taken up in 340 villages in Banavara Hobli (Arsikere taluk) at a cost of Rs. 60.50 crore and in 122 villages in Gandsi hobli in Arsikere taluk at a cost of Rs. 26.50 crore.

The State Government has sought the permission of the Central Government to draw water from the Hemavathi River.

Ms. Karandlaje regretted that even 60 years after Independence, successive governments had failed to provide basic amenities to people in the rural areas. “Our elders constructed tanks in all villages but we did not protect these tanks. For every thing we depend on the Government,” she said. There are about 33,000 tanks in the State. Some tanks have been encroached upon. Ms. Karandlaje said she had directed officers to restore tank area by removing encroachments and fencing the tank area.

Describing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme as a “blessings in disguise”, she said people who belong to the Scheduled Caste and Tribes can take up employment under this scheme for their own progress in life. The scheme ensures 100 days of employment.

The works include construction of schools, tanks, removal of silt in tanks and bunding of agriculture land. She said that the scheme was aimed at making villages self-reliant.

Village residents should conserve rain water so that underground water is replenished, Ms. Karandlaje said adding that they should also remove silt from the tanks in their respective villages.

The Government was holding Jana Samparka Sabha at the hobli level for addressing people’s problems.

She advised village residents to attend those sabhas for getting their problems solved.

She informed that people below poverty line (BPL), who wish to get BPL ration cards, can furnish their details on stamp paper worth Rs. 20 and submit the same in Nemmadi Kendra, which will be set up in all districts after January 10.

Arsikere MLA K.M. Shivalinge Gowda, who presided, suggested linking of Hemavathi, Yagachi and Cauvery rivers.

Zilla panchayat president C.N. Balakrishna, Belur MLA Rudresh Gowda, Deputy Commissioner Naveen Raj Singh and zilla panchayat CEO Shankaranarayana were also present.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Three killed, two injured in accident
New stadium to come up in Hassan at a cost of Rs. 1 crore
Rs. 87-cr. worth drinking water project launched

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu