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ZP members protest president, CEO's move

Action plan drawn for drinking water projects without consultation
Last Updated 30 March 2012, 16:40 IST

Members of the zilla panchayat, cutting across party lines, protested against the president and chief executive officer on Thursday alleging that they had not been consulted before drawing the action plan for drinking water projects in the district.

CEO Anjan Kumar informed the members — at a special meeting convened to discuss drought relief measures, drinking water projects and distribution of seeds for potato crops — that the ZP had submitted a proposal to the state government for Rs 33 crore for drinking water projects, out of which Rs 20 crore has been released and works worth Rs 16.70 crore were complete.

Challenging the CEO’s claim that there has been 81 per cent progress in the works, ex-president B D Chandregowda asked on what basis was the claim made and sought details about the expenditure.

Member Kishore alleged that none of the engineers had any information about the projects executed. “They are just digging borewell indiscriminately. They are neglecting the wisdom of the elected body. Engineer of Channarayapatna division is not present at this meeting too,” he said.

Power problems

Jyothi Gurudev pointed out that residents and students under Alur constituency were affected badly due to lack of power supply as 20 transformers in the area were not working. She was not happy with the assurance from Cesc officials that the problem would be set right in one month’s time.

The CEO said hand-pumps fitted to borewells in several villages need to be repaired. “The deputy commissioner has directed to have a mobile repair unit for the purpose. But, repairing all borewells by travelling in a single vehicle is practically impossible. He would be urged to release Rs 50,000 to each grama panchayat from the drought relief fund so that repair works are carried out locally in consultation with respective ZP members,” he informed.

President Sathyanarayana asked the officials to provide a generator to each taluk to ease drinking water problems. He said the generator can be transported to villages,where power supply is inadequate, to pump water from borewells.

Anjan Kumar said instead of digging new borewells, engineers should take steps to clean old borewells and dig them further to make good use of available resources. He also asked the engineers concerned to send proposals to Cesc for necessary power connections immediately. “Funds are not a constraint, the fees to Cesc would be paid once the proposals are approved,” he added.

Drought relief

Sathyanarayana said as the government has allocated Rs 30 lakh to each Assembly constituency for drought relief, each ZP member can get at least three borewells dug under their respective constituency. “As ZP members have been made members of the drought relief task force, it would not be difficult for them to get funds from MLA funds,” he stated. 

However, ZP members complained that it was not proper to release all funds to MLAs. “It is difficult to plead with the MLAs every time. If a portion of the funds are released to the ZP, it would be helpful in solving the problems of the people,” they said. The CEO also informed that a new hall would be constructed on the top floor, instead of renovating the existing hall, as the expenditure would be almost the same. He said the state government has agreed to sanction funds and steps were underway to design a modern hall with sophisticated acoustics like in Vidhana Soudha and Vikasa Soudha.

He said action plan was ready for development of the Silver Jubilee Park in the city and construction of Balabhavan. “There are also plans to introduce a mini-train for entertainment of children,” he added.

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(Published 30 March 2012, 16:39 IST)

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