Minister for Social Welfare and district in-charge H. Anjaneya has instructed the officers concerned to complete work on installing drinking water purification units approved by the State government within the stipulated time at places where water has been found to have high fluoride content, to provide safe drinking water to people.
Speaking at the quarterly Karnataka Development Programme meeting at the zilla panchyat meeting hall here on Tuesday, he said that the State government has promised the people that it would provide them pure drinking water.
In March 2016, the government sanctioned 275 drinking water purification units in the district, but the authorities concerned have not taken any steps to install the units. “The zilla panchayat chief executive officer should conduct meetings of officers concerned to ensure that the purification units are installed within stipulated time,” he added.
Since hopes of a good rainfall are fast evaporating in some taluks of the district, the officers concerned should be prepared to face any emergency situations as the groundwater table would deplete in the absence of rainfall. They should be prepared to supply water through tankers to villages facing scarcity, he said.
The State government has released Rs. 103 crore for providing drinking water in the district of which Rs. 50 crore has been spent for taking up drought relief works. The district administration has sought another Rs. 50 lakh for drought relief works. “The officers concerned should make sure that each village suffering from scarcity gets drinking water through tankers,” he added.
Under the Ganga Kalyan scheme, the authorities concerned have drilled new borewells in the farmland of beneficiaries, but BESCOM authorities have not taken steps to provide power supply to these borewells. So, immediate steps should be taken to provide power supply to these borewells.
