No more tanker water supply, orders DC

Good rain this year is a positive sign for water and fodder supply

 A total of 677.5 mm rain this year, with 86.5 mm in October, is a good sign for the district, for both water supply and agricultural work, said Deputy Commissioner D S Vishwanath.

“Sowing has been completed on 1.2 acres of land in the district and the produce on 87,000 acres is good. There should be no shortage of fodder the next six months,” he added.

He was addressing a progress review meeting of drought relief work on Saturday.
“The Animal Husbandry Department has provided minikit seeds to farmers and we should get 58,000 tonnes of fodder. An additional fodder of 85 tonnes should be available from ragi and other crops,” he said, adding that there should be no shortage of fodder till March 2013 as 2.77 tonnes have been grown.

Commenting on the rain due to the recent Nilam cyclone, Vishwanath said there had been no case of loss of life in the district.

“There has been some loss of property, however, due to roof collapse in Kolar, Malur, Bangarpet and Srinivaspur taluks. The residents of the destroyed houses will be recompensed,” promised the Deputy Commissioner.

He said the City Municipal Council should set up sheds to replace collapsed houses in the urban areas. “The Council should, however, take the initiative to provide such families proper houses within reasonable time,” he told the CMC officers.

The DC explained that 304 irrigation projects had been completed in the district using the natural disaster fund, and borewells had been sunk in all villages.

“In spite of this, citizens are provided water from tankers in 154 villages. If this continues, no more money will be released from the natural disaster fund,” warned Vishwanath.

He said the taluk panchayat executive officers had failed to give exact figures on the development work carried out in villages. “The funds reserved for beneficiaries belonging to scheduled caste and tribe should be utilised immediately,” he told the officers.

MGNREGS

S M Zulfikarullah, chief executive officer of the Zilla Panchayat, said this year Rs 26 crore, of a total of Rs 69 crore, had been released under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

“However, only Rs 62 lakh has been used for development work,” he said. “There are 1.95 lakh MGNREGS card holders all over the district, but only 2,857 houses have got 100 days of work. The Scheme is hardly being implemented in Kolar district,” he criticised.

The DC, who concurred, said that going by the rate at which funds were misused under MGNREGS, it seemed best to hand over the matter to an investigating body.

“The unlicensed buildings around the Kolaramma tank should be brought down and a fence put up within a week’s time. If the officers manage to complete the work within the stipulated time, their work would certainly be appreciated by the public. Also, their work would add to public benefit,” said Vishwanath.

Additional DC Peddappaiah, deputy forest conservation officer Munegowda were among those present at the meeting.