Rs 23 crore grants for drinking water: Roshan Baig

A sum of Rs 23 crore will be released towards drinking water management in the district, District In-Charge Minister Roshan Baig said.

Presiding over the KDP review meeting at Zilla Panchayat here, he said the proposal has been approved and required action has been initiated for the release of   funds.

His reaction came in the wake of Zilla Panchayat president B S Chaitrashree's statement that despite the submission of memorandum to the government, the grant has not been released for drinking water. "The problem of drinking water shortage is in various parts of the district. Though four projects of Multivillage Water Supply Schemes  were initiated long ago, the projects are not getting completed due to the lethargic attitude of the officials," she had stated.

MLA G H Shrinivas pointed out that Karakucchi-Belenahalli Multi Village Water Supply Scheme is incomplete. The officials are not taking necessary actions towards the completion of the project, he said. As the water woes are serious, more funds should be released, he added.

ZP Social Justice Standing Committee president Ravindra Belavadi said that the drinking water problem is severe in Kadur and Sakharayapatna. Those working in the rural water supply department have not been paid since nine months, he said.

MLC Motamma too blamed officials for the increasing problem of drinking water. Multivillage Water Supply Scheme is not sanctioned for Kalasa, due to the negligent attitude of an engineer. The tribal hamlets and SC/ST colonies are not getting regular water supply, she charged.

Minister Baig said that a meeting of the MLAs and officers will be convened in Bengaluru on December 29.

The minister directed the executive engineer to take immediate action towards the approval for the drinking water project in Kalasa. The work should be done before Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's visit to the district on January 5, he said.

DC M K Srirangaiah asked the officials to take up the works related to drinking water supply as soon as possible. "The defunct pumpsets at the borewells should be repaired soon," he said.

MLA D N Jeevaraj charged that 40 applications, submitted under Form 50 and 53, have been cleared so far. "The processing of applications, submitted in 1998, is being done in 2017. An inspection of files was conducted in Taluk Office, Koppa, recently. In a file, a land surveyor had made a remark that the permission from forest department is necessary to clear the application. The applications submitted by the less privileged are kept pending," Jeevaraj claimed.The deputy commissioner said that land surveyors have no right to add remarks on the applications. Action will be initiated against the wrongdoers. Also, no permission from forest land is required to sanction gomala land, he added.

During a discussion, the deputy commissioner said that talks will be held with Horticulture Institute Dean and others officers towards utilising the land of Ambedkar Bhavan.

A food department officer said that 39,542 applications were submitted in the district, for new ration cards. Out of these 26,906 have been approved. The new ration cards will be sent through post. The process will be complete by the end of this month, he added.