Chief Executive Officer of the Kalaburagi Zilla Panchayat P. Raja on Thursday directed officers concerned to take steps to provide drinking water throughout the year to villages not getting sufficient water. Speaking at the monthly Karnataka Development Programme review meeting here, Mr. Raja said that the State government has expressed concern over the growing scarcity of drinking water in rural areas. Recently, the Chief Secretary had held a video conference with district officials and asked them to address the drinking water crisis. Each individual should get at least 40 litres of water per day, he said.
Revansiddappa, executive engineer of the Rural Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation under the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department, said that 229 villages in Kalaburagi district were facing acute drinking water crisis. “We are supplying drinking water in 112 villages through tankers; we have hired 136 private borewells to meet the demand of drinking water in 117 villages,” he added.
More fodder banks
Zilla panchayat president Suvarna Malaji directed the officials to set up 10 additional fodder banks in the district. At present, the district administration has set up 21 fodder banks. The officers have been asked to suggest places to set up additional fodder banks.
Misuse of funds
Shivaraj Patil Raddewadagi, chairman of Agricultural and Industries Standing Committee, said that there was misappropriation of funds allocated for construction of tanks in Heginal and Sonna villages in Jewargi taluk. The money was swindled by generating fake bills, he said and asked the officials concerned to submit a detailed report of the works. He also said that drinking water was not supplied in some of the tandas in Jewargi taluk. Over 70 people took ill after consuming contaminated water there.
Mr. Raja said that a proposal would be made to the government for appointing a third party inspection agency to certify the works executed by the zilla panchayat.
