The District Development Council on Saturday directed the ground water department to repair or replace all damaged bore wells in the district ahead of the annual drought season.
Participants at the final DDC meeting this financial year pointed out that many elevated areas in the district were already feeling acute water shortage. In many places bore wells were either defunct or damaged.
District Collector K.N. Satheesh informed the DDC that as per the decision of the Cabinet a meeting of MLAs, representatives of local bodies and department heads would be convened in a week to discuss the steps to be taken to combat drought situation.
That meeting would also take a final call on the distribution of drinking water via water tankers to areas facing water shortage. The departments concerned should make preparations for this right away, Mr. Satheesh said.
K. Muraledharan, MLA, said that he had received widespread complaints about burst water pipelines of the Kerala Water Authority not getting repaired on time. In reply, the executive engineer of the KWA told the meeting that the KWA had put together a scheme for replacing such lines.
Other participants pointed out that roadworks were not getting completed on time.