A delegation of councillors from the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party will visit the Thumbe vented dam soon to study the allegations made by former district in-charge Minister J. Krishna Palemar that sewage is being let into the Netravathi.
The decision was taken by Mayor Harinath following uproar by BJP councillors at a meeting of the corporation council on Saturday.
Raising the issue, BJP councillor Sudhir Shetty said that the Congress had not seriously taken the allegation made by Mr. Palemar that water supplied to many parts in the city was contaminated as it contained more amount of coliform bacteria and faecal coliform bacteria. Mr. Palemar visited Bantwal along with some councillors and found 18 places where sewage was openly let into the Netravathi under the jurisdiction of Bantwal Town Municipal Council, he said.
Terming the allegation as “election gimmick”, Mr. Harinath said that if there was truth in Mr. Palemar’s claim, there would have been a rise in the number of people falling sick in the city. “The corporation cannot act on the allegations made by Mr. Palemar, who was relying on results of a private laboratory that tested the water samples without following prescribed norms.”
Following a brief exchange of words between BJP and Congress councillors, Mr. Harinath said a delegation would visit Thumbe.
