What if all the water that has collected in the 3,000-km-long tunnels of the defunct Kolar Gold Fields is treated and made fit for drinking? It would be a veritable boon to the people of this parched district.
This was the dream proposal made by Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister H.K. Patil in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
Mr. Patil said the task of assessing the quantum of water in the tunnels, its safety, the impurities in it and all other issues would be entrusted to a team of experts. A report would be sought in a month.
Mr. Patil’s proposal came as a reply when the MLAs from Kolar, Chikballapur and Bengaluru (Rural) constituencies appealed emotionally to the government to address the serious drinking water concerns of the people of the three areas .
“I will camp for three days in all the three constituencies and chalk out an action to address your concerns in about two months,” Mr. Patil assured the members.
However, Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP was quick to add that tests conducted twice on this water had detected large amounts of the poisonous arsenic. . But if latest methods can be used to treat the water and render it safe, it should be given a shot at.
Former Speaker and Congress member Ramesh Kumar was heard saying at one point of time that the people of the three thirsty districts were even pleading with the government to supply them tankers filled with Bengaluru’s treated sewage water.
In reply, Minister for Minor Irrigation Shivaraj Tangadagi said bids had been invited from agencies to prepare a detailed project report for a tertiary treatment plant in Kolar that would handle Bengaluru’s partly treated sewage water, apart from desilting tanks.