The 24x7 drinking water supply scheme may be extended to small and medium towns in the State this year, utilising assistance provided by the Union government under the Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT).
The scheme, introduced on a pilot basis in a few wards in Hubli-Dharwad, Belgaum and Gulbarga city corporation limits, will be extended to all the wards in the three cities at a cost of Rs. 1,760 crore, with 50 per cent assistance from the World Bank, as it has become a success.
The State government has now decided to experiment the scheme in Sedam and Chincholi towns in Gulbarga district.
Executive Engineer of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWSDB) Ashok Madyal told The Hindu here on Thursday that the Union government had given its approval for implementing the scheme in Sedam at a cost of Rs. 26.1 crore. It would be funded under the UIDSSMT and implemented by the KUWSDB. The State government had given its administrative approval and tenders had been invited for bulk supply of water, he said.
Mr. Madyal said another proposal for implementing the scheme in Chincholi town at a cost of Rs. 50.01 crore had been submitted to the State government for administrative approval. A proposal had also been placed before the Union government seeking assistance.
The KUWSDB also proposes to take up the scheme in Aland town in Gulbarga district under the UIDSSMT. A survey had been completed in the town, and design and estimates were being prepared.
Mr. Madyal said that a Rs. 99-crore proposal under the UIDSSMT had been submitted to the Union government for taking up Phase I of the 4th stage of the underground drainage project in Gulbarga city. A detailed project report had been submitted to the Union government and technical appraisal completed. Apart from this, the UGD project for the industrial township of Wadi in Chittapur taluk and Aland town at a cost of Rs. 60.43 crore and Rs. 39.8 crore, respectively, had been approved under the UIDSSMT. The State government has given its administrative approval.
He said the Union government had also accorded its sanction for taking up the UGD project in Sedam and Chittapur towns at a cost of Rs. 22 crore and Rs. 18 crore respectively. Estimates were also being prepared for taking up the UGD project in Chincholi and Afzalpur towns in Gulbarga district.
