JOIN USCentral team visits district
He was speaking to media persons at Sugaturu village in Kolar taluk which he was touring as part of the drought assessment in the State on Monday. Earlier Rajashekar had chaired a district-level meeting of officials in Kolar.
He said that the team was in the initial stage of calculating the relief amount. The district administration has explained the situation through statistics. However, the team will visit the affected places to compile the data which would take anywhere between 7 to 10 days. Only after this a definite stand can be taken regarding the relief, Rajashekar added.
“Groundwater has depleted in the region. There is no water in the tanks. The district administration should adopt rain water harvesting and other methods to revive groundwater,” he added.
Members
The team comprised District in-charge Secretary B S Ramaprasad and Central Planning Commission’s R K Sharma.
Deputy Commissioner N Prabhakar, MLA Venkatshiva Reddy, Zilla Panchayat President M Srinivas, CEO G V Rangarao, SP K P Puttuswamy and other district-level officers were present on the occasion.
The Team visited Kolar taluk’s Sugaturu and Bellambari; Srinivaspura taluk’s Holuru; Mulbagal taluk’s Mudiyanuru and other villages. Rajashekar who received the complaints from the villagers commented on the queries posed by them.
Meeting
Earlier in a meeting held at the National Informatics Centre here, Deputy Commissioner N Prabhakar gave a power point presentation to explain about places affected by drought to the Team members.
In his presentation he sought Rs 17.97 crore to Agriculture Department, Rs 5.38 crore to Horticulture Department, Rs 7.25 crore to Department of Animal Husbandry, Rs 16.38 crore for rural water supply, Rs 8.75 crore for Urban water supply and Rs 77.95 for employment generation to tide over the drought. In total Rs 133.68 crore had been sought under the relief. He added that a proposal regarding this has already been sent to government.
However, the Team members questioned the rationality behind giving antibiotics to animals who are suffering from lack of fodder and sinking more borewells in the region which has over exploited the groundwater. The team questioned the administration for not reviving the groundwater. Prabhakar in a candid reply said that life cannot exist in the district without borewells in the district.