The Kerala Water Authority will extend e-payment facility for remitting drinking
water bills to 13 more divisions in the State, Water Resources Minister N.K. Premachandran has said.
Replying to questions in the Assembly on Thursday, Mr. Premachandran said that the facility has already been provided in Thiruvananthapuram division and it will be extended to other divisions in the current financial year itself. KWA will start the marketing of bottled drinking water in February 2011. Following
the augmentation of water supply in Ernakulam district, fresh drinking water connections will be given to domestic consumers in Thripunithura, Vadakkekara and Paravur areas from August 1. Work on the Kalippara and Kottayam-Pattiyam-Koothuparambu drinking water projects will begin this year.
The Meenad drinking water project would be commissioned this year. The tender documents of Ayilamkadavu drinking water scheme at Kazhakoottam in Thiruvananthapuram were reported to be missing. Following a preliminary inquiry, it has been found that the documents were missing from the Secretariat. The next Cabinet meeting will decide the nature of probe to be instituted in this case.
As per the statistics on March 31, the drinking water arrears from various consumers amounted to Rs.257.69 crore. The arrears of the local self-government institutions amounted to Rs.243.09 crore. Offices of political parties like the Congress, CPI (M), CPI, RSP, IUML, BJP and various Kerala Congress factions were there among the defaulters.
Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan said that 13 State-level hartals were held during the past four years. The UDF and the LDF called two hartals each, the BJP six, the CPI (ML) one and other organisations six. In addition, various organisations called 320 regional hartals during the period. Industries Minister Elamaram Karim who deputised for Health Minister P.K.Sreemathy said that Post Basic Nursing Course will be launched at the Government Nursing Colleges in Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode as well as in private and self-financing colleges. This two-year course will be equivalent to B. Sc Nursing course.
