It was a platform for elected representatives, officials and experts to discuss the ways to check further depletion and degradation of various water sources in both urban and rural areas. The speakers, after the brain storming session, were of the opinion that there is an urgent need for better management of water and it is an important national task.
The speakers also felt the need for integrated approach for conserving water sources and citizens, panchayat bodies, non-government organisations and the government need to take up this responsibility. The two-day workshop on “Impending water crisis in Karnataka’, organised by Karnataka State Legislative Council and State Planning Board, began on Thursday at Jnana Jyothi Auditorium, Central College, Bangalore.
Principal Secretary to the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj M R Srinivas Murthy underscored the need to pass a legislation reserving a portion of water in tanks or reservoirs for drinking purposes.
Mr Murthy said though annually the State needed only about 50 tmc of water to meet the drinking water needs of the rural population, still many villagers suffered drinking water shortage. This was mainly due to the large scale utilisation  of water for irrigation purposes-about 1400 tmc per annum.
Mr Murthy observed that a legislation needs to be passed to earmark a portion of ground water for drinking purposes. “There are about 15 lakh irrigation pumpsets in the State and they consume a lot of ground water. But in 93 per cent villages, the ground water is the main source of water. So the exploitation of ground water for irrigation purposes has affected the supply for drinking purposes ”, he added.

Cloud seeding
Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council H K Patil suggested for bringing in suitable amendments to the Constitution to include water conservation and protection among the fundamental duties of citizens. He called for passing a resolution appealing to the Prime Minister to take steps to amend the Constitution.
Further Mr Patil appealed to the government to resume 'Cloud seeding' programme which was rigorously pursued in the neighbouring States. He suggested for establishing “Indian Institute of Weather Management” on the lines of ISRO for taking up ‘cloud seeding’ as well as for effective management of water resources. Earlier inaugurating the workshop, Minister for Rural Water Supply S A Ravindranath said the State was endowed with plenty of water resources but there was no proper management of the same.