State clears proposal on drinking water

Mayor Ms. Noorjahan (second from left) along with G. Somashekar Reddy MLA and KMF Chairman and Ms. J. Shanta, MP, at the general body meeting of Bellary city Corporation held here today. Mayor Ms. Noorjahan (second from left) along with G. Somashekar Reddy MLA and KMF Chairman and Ms. J. Shanta, MP, at the general body meeting of Bellary city Corporation held here today. - Bellary City Corporation meeting on Saturday

The State Government has cleared the Bellary City Corporation's Rs. 98-crore proposal to lay a 30-km pipeline to draw drinking water from Tungabhadra low-level canal at Moka to the Allipur reservoir in the city, G. Somashekar Reddy, Bellary city MLA, has said.

Participating in the general body meeting of the city corporation here on Saturday, he said that in addition to the funds worth Rs. 35 crore made available by the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation (KUIDFC), the corporation would bear 10 per cent of the project cost and the rest was to be released from the Government. Once the project was implemented, the city would not face drinking water scarcity, he said.

The city corporation plans to draw water from the low-level canal in which water flows for about 11 months a year.

Shortage

Presently, the Allipur reservoir is being filled with water from the high-level canal, in which water flows only for six months a year. As a result, the city has been facing drinking water shortage. Water is supplied once in three days during summers. Raju, Deputy Director of KUIDFC, said that the process of calling tenders would begin only after getting clearance from the Tungabhadra Board to draw 43 cusecs of water daily.

Mayor Noorjahan chaired the meeting.