Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that his government has written to the Maharashtra government seeking 2.5 tmcft of water as the State was facing acute shortage of water.
Chairing a review meeting here on Sunday, he said that the government was making every effort to get water from Maharashtra which would help the State supply water for drinking purpose here.
Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil has said that some water was released by Maharashtra which has now reached Hipparagi barrage. He added that more water has been sought.
Asserting that there was no dearth of funds for ensuring drinking water supply, the Chief Minister directed the officials concerned to take all precautionary measures to tackle drinking water shortage. He said that the government was ready to release adequate funds to take up drought- relief steps.
“The first priority before the government is to ensure drinking water to people and cattle; therefore, the officials must not be inertial in this connection,” he said. He told them that they should hire water takers and private borewells to supply water regularly, based on need. He said that supplying fodder was also essential, thus the officials should keep adequate quantity of fodder till monsoon. With regard to installation of new pumpsets at the purification unit at Bhutnal tank, Mr. Siddaramaiah directed the officials to submit a proposal for consideration.
Deputy Commissioner K.B. Shivakumar said that water was being supplied through tankers to 171 villages and 59 wards in the district. Besides, water was supplied through private borewells in 47 villages, he said and added that the district administration has adequate fodder in 20 fodder banks to last 12 weeks.
Zilla panchayat chief executive officer Sundresh Babu told the Chief Minister that work was in progress to remove silt from tanks and bunds to store more water in the monsoon.
Public Works Minister H.C. Mahadevappa, MLA C.S. Nadagouda, MLC S.R. Patil and several elected representatives were present.
