Drinking water remains a mirage in North-Karnataka villages as RO plants lie defunct

Kalaburagi: Pure drinking water has remained a distant dream for people of rural Karnataka amid rising temperatures due to delays, lack of funding and substandard work in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission. According to the Rural Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Department, of the 19,652 reverse osmosis (RO) plants, 3,382 have remained defunct in the state despite funds being allotted for their repairs.

A large number of residents rely only on borewells for their drinking water since operating and maintaining these RO plants has become a challenge for gram panchayats. Depleting groundwater due to the drop in water levels in reservoirs, ponds and lakes has made the problem acute. According to estimates from grassroots workers, 40 per cent of people in North Karnataka depend on water contaminated by fluoride. Officials attribute this problem to the failure of the agency concerned and gram panchayats to maintain RO plants.

Defunct RO plants, high fluoride and arsenic content and a dilapidated pipeline network have resulted in water contamination, often leading to severe health crises and deaths in Yadgir and other districts over the last 2-3 years. Sewage seepage into broken drinking water pipelines has resulted in acute vomiting and diarrhoea with villagers expressing their anger towards officials for failing to supply pure drinking water.

“Several people in our village were hospitalised two years ago after drinking contaminated water from borewells that are 30 years old. Around 60% of the people fetch water from the same borewells whose casing pipes have rusted. The poor drainage system results in water contamination, jeopardising people’s health,” said former gram panchayat member Basanagouda Policepatil of Chikanhalli in Surpur taluk.

Raichur zilla panchayat CEO Ishwar Kumar Kandoo claimed that around 130 RO plants out of a total 716 are not working in the district and Rs 50,000 each is being spent to repair 91 plants. He claimed that officials are conducting joint inspections in all villages to prevent water contamination.

“New RO plants are being constructed with allocations from KKRDB funds and other sources. Directions have been given to clean around 800 overhead tanks once in 15-20 days. There is some biological contamination and strict orders have been issued to close such borewells. These plants are maintained directly by gram panchayatss,” Kandoo said.

Meanwhile, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge said the government is trying to find a permanent solution for proper maintenance of the RO plants in the long-run.