291 villages to get drinking water

Chairman of the Legislature Committee on Local Bodies and Panchayat Raj K N Rajanna directed the Zilla Panchayat chief engineer to take necessary steps to provide permanent drinking water to 291 villages in Hanur Assembly constituency in Kollegal taluk.

Rajanna, who chaired a meeting at the Zilla Panchayat auditorium here on Tuesday, said he would recommend the government for speedy implementation of the projects. The report prepared by the Ziilla Panchayat would be verified by the State-level committee and works would be started after Cabinet approval, he added.

He lauded the multi-village project which enables supply of water to 166 villages of Chamarajanagar taluk and 131 villages of Gundlupet taluk.

He suggested supplying water from rivers as they would provide a permanent solution to the water crisis of the region.

ZP CEO K H Narasimham-urthy said a primary report on the drinking water project at an estimated cost of Rs 310 crore has already been submitted to the office of the chief engineer. It would quench the thirst of 291 villages. Similarly, a draft report of Rs 59 crore has been prepared to solve water problems of 20 villages in Kollegal taluk and 20 villages in Yalandur taluk, he added.

Narasimhamurthy sought funds for the construction of buildings as 10 new gram panchayats have been constituted in the district and submitted a proposal for appointment of additional data entry operators in the gram panchayats. As the gram panchayats are managing with just one DTP operator, the works are getting delayed, he added. MLAs C Puttarangashetty, S Jayanna and others were present.