More drilling rigs to be bought

The district ground water department will be directed to purchase five more drilling rigs to set up bore wells in the district.

This was decided at a meeting of MLAs and other people's representatives, chaired by Transport Minister V.S. Sivakumar, here on Friday.

The government will put in place steps to tackle the water scarcity problem in summer in Thiruvananthapuram district, Mr. Sivakumar told the meeting.

Damaged pipes, water pumps, generators, and bore wells in the district will be restored to a working condition immediately. The district administration should purchase more water tanks of 5,000 and 2,000 litres capacity as there is a shortage of tanks needed to distribute water to areas facing scarcity, the meeting resolved.

At the panchayat level, the monitoring of these activities will be done by the respective local body. MLAs should call meetings of presidents of the panchayats in their constituencies and report to the District Collector the steps needed to tackle water scarcity in their respective areas.

Mr. Sivakumar directed District Collector K.N. Satheesh to submit a comprehensive report to the government on the steps to be taken to tackle the shortage of water. The report should be submitted before March 5.

A review meeting of water supply schemes will be convened in the presence of the Water Resources Minister before the completion of this session of the Assembly, Mr. Sivakumar told the MLAs who took part in the meeting.