'Use emergency funds for water'

Presiding over a progress review meeting here on Tuesday, Srinivasachari, who is also the Principal Secretary of the Minor Irrigation Department said that the tahsildar should conduct a meeting of taluk panchayat officers within three days. The meeting should deliberate all aspects of the gravity of the drinking water scarcity in each taluk and a comprehensive report should be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner. “On the basis of the report, steps should be taken to sink borewells wherever necessary, utilising the emergency fund of Rs one crore with the Deputy Commissioner. Power connection should be provided to all the motors by April end,” he directed.

Regretting that the district with highest number of tanks had been reeling under water scarcity, Srinivasachari asked the authorities concerned to take remedial steps at the earliest.

Zilla Panchayat Executive Engineer Devaraj said that 58 villages in the taluk were facing drinking water scarcity. In-charge executive officer of Taluk Panchayat, K S Nagarajagowda informed that water was being supplied through tankers to 13 villages. The meeting was told that 59 villages in Malur taluk too have been reeling under the crisis while the situation is not so critical in Mulbagal. Power supply is yet to be given to seven borewells in Bangarpet taluk, the officials said.

Incomplete information
The district in-charge secretary took the officials to task for not giving him a comprehensive picture of the water scarcity in the taluk. He said that officials should be in possession of all the details at the a time when the district was facing a critical problem. He also emphasised coordination between various departments to effectively deal with the scarcity.

Quality of education
Reviewing the progress of the Education Department, the secretary instructed to construct toilets in schools under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. He was not satisifed with the reply furnished by the Deputy Director of Public Instruction Prahlada Gowda on the steps taken to improve the quality of education in the district.

The DDPI ultimately conceded that the Education Department in the district has all the infrastructure, but lot needs to be done to improve the quality of education. Srinivasachari noted that there were 2,54,414 students and 6,090 teachers in the district and the Department should put in efforts to improve the quality of education.
Deputy Commissioner N Prabhakar, Zilla Panchayat Deputy Secretary Lakshminarayana were present. ZP president G Mangamma and and Chief Executive Officer G V Rangarao were not present.