Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports Pramod Madhwaraj on Wednesday defended the decision of the State government in declaring Udupi district as a drought-affected district.
Replying to questions of presspersons here, Mr. Madhwaraj said that since all the three taluks — Udupi, Kundapur and Karkala — in the district have been declared drought-affected, every MLA would get a fund of ₹60 lakh instead of ₹40 lakh. Every MLA would get a fund of ₹18 lakh under the Kere Sanjeevini scheme. “Why should we not get these funds?” he asked. To a question, he said that no water was being supplied by tankers either in the gram panchayats or the Udupi municipality limits so far. The district administration had earlier banned the sinking of borewells by private parties in the district. This ban has now been lifted.
The Panchayat Development Officers (PDOs) and Udupi municipal commissioner have been directed to provide drinking water to any area facing scarcity in the GPs and Udupi City Municipal Council.
Both the urban local bodies and the GPs have been provided with sufficient funds to deal with water scarcity. “If the officers do not supply water by tankers to water scarce areas, they would be suspended. This is a warning to all the PDOs and the municipal commissioner,” Mr. Madhwaraj said.
He said that his department had announced a relief of ₹5 lakh for the family of wrestler, Santosh Hosamani, 21, who passed away at Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences in Hubballi. He was injured during a 95-kg free style wrestling bout at the Karnataka State Olympics held in Dharwad recently, he said. On allegations of medical negligence in the treatment of Hosamani, Mr. Madhwaraj said that doctors treating him had stated that Hosamani died owing to cardiac arrest. “But if there is medical negligence, we will enquire into it,” he said.
