Despite the fact that groundwater levels in most villages, prone to drinking water shortage during summer, is on the rise, Kalaburagi is bracing itself for a water crisis in newer villages and has prepared a Rs. 12.97 crore-contingency plan for tackling it.
Executive Engineer of the newly formed Karnataka Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Department B. Manjunath said that as per a department survey, 362 villages and hamlets out of the total 1263 in the district are likely to face a shortage of drinking water in the coming summer.
“A comprehensive plan has been prepared to tackle the drinking water shortage by reviving the piped water and mini water supply schemes and the dried up borewells by taking up hydro fracturing and drilling new ones in affected areas.”
Mr. Manjunath said that apart from this, a separate action plan is also being prepared for transporting drinking water as and when required.
As per the list of villages that are likely to face water shortage, the situation appears to be acute in Kalaburagi taluk with 120 villages out of the total 220 villages likely to be affected.
Last year as many as 61 villages in the district, 44 of them in Aland taluk alone, were provided drinking water through transportation for an extended period.
Out of the total 77 wells where the groundwater level is being measured in the district, the level has been on the rise in 44 wells and it has been constant in 13 others.
Only in 20 wells there has been some fall in the groundwater level.
Mr. Manjunath said that the State government had approved Rs. 133.04 crore for taking up drinking water projects in the district during 2014-15.
This was reduced to Rs. 80.30 crore when the actual allocation was made and till date, only Rs. 63.43 crore had been released.
362 villages and hamlets expected to face water crisis
Kalaburagi, with 120, will be affected the most
