Election panel nod sought to mitigate water crisis

The sweltering summer heat has aggravated the problem of drinking water supply in most parts of the State, prompting the State Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RD&PR) to seek the permission of Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (OCEO), Karnataka, to implement approved action plans related to drinking water at the panchayat-level.

Besides, the Revenue department has recently issued a circular stating that water in major reservoirs should be used only for drinking purpose.

Further, the groundwater table is fast depleting. The worst affected are the districts of Bangalore Rural, Kolar, Ramanagara, Belgaum, Dharwad, Bijapur, Raichur and Gulbarga.

About 250 villages in these districts have lost all sources of water and gone completely dry. All tanks and borewells in these places have dried up, according to the Revenue department statistics.

The situation is so alarming that the RDPR department has sought the OCEO’s permission to implement action plans, both emergency and normal schemes, related to drinking water schemes. Besides, a large number of multi-village water supply schemes that have been already approved by the government are held up due to model code of conduct for the Assembly elections.

The OCEO, in its guidelines to the government, has stated that no new projects should be taken up for implementation. The rule applies to those which have been approved and tendered by the government. Though there is relaxation for drought-related works, including drinking water, projects and action plans cannot be implemented, officials pointed out.

There are about 5,000 approved action plans pending to be implemented. A majority of them are related to drinking water and minor projects. If implemented, villages facing acute water scarcity will get the much-needed respite. The RDPR has identified about 10,000 problematic villages where drinking water has become a scarce commodity this summer.

According to information available in the Minor Irrigation (MI) department, all MI tanks have dried up, except for those around Bangalore City which receive sewerage water. There are 3,524 MI tanks across the State. The Krishna river and its main tributary the Bheema, which cater to drinking water needs of several North Karnataka districts, are fast drying up.

The government, as a result, knocked on the Maharashtra government’s door, seeking about four tmc ft of water from the Koyna dam.

The State Water Resources department wants to buy water from the Maharashtra government and is ready to pay up to Rs 1.5 crore per tmc ft of water. The problem has become severe this summer as the State has experienced two successive years of drought. The government has already declared 157 of the total 176 taluks as drought-affected, an official explained.

The Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) recently released Rs 40 crore to deal with the drinking water problem in summer. “The situation is grim. We have empowered all urban local bodies to take necessary steps and ensure supply of drinking water,” DMA Superintending Engineer (drinking water) B S Shivakumar said.

Yadgir sizzling

According to Karnataka State National Disaster Monitoring Centre director V S Prakash, the rise in temperature is nothing abnormal. April and May are the hottest months in a year. Hence, the temperature will go up further in the coming days.

North Karnataka districts of Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal and Bellary are experiencing temperatures above 40 degree Celsius. Shahpur taluk in Yadgir district recorded the highest temperature of 43 degree Celsius on Tuesday.