‘Water tanker bills to be paid once in 15 days’

The rent of water tankers should be cleared once every fortnight to ensure uninterrupted service, Deputy Commissioner Dr Bagadi Gautam said on Thursday.

“Presently, over 105 tankers are providing water to the residents of 82 villages in the district,” he added.

The officers told reporters that the dues up to April-end had been paid to the water tanker suppliers. “Bills of Rs 66 lakh have been cleared in Chikkamagaluru taluk and Rs 86 in Kadur taluk. Water in 43 tankers was supplied in 32 villages of Chikkamagaluru taluk, in 60 tankers in 48 villages of Kadur taluk and in two tankers to the two villages of Tarikere taluk,” he explained.

The deputy commissioner said that necessary measures had been taken to ensure that the payment of bills to the tanker suppliers is not delayed. There is enough money in the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

Drought relief

The officer said that Rs 1.45 crore and Rs 1.16 crore had been released in the first and the second phases respectively to the urban local bodies towards drought management.

“The Zilla Panchayat received a fund of Rs six crore. Out of the 287 works related to drought relief, 235 have been completed and the remaining 52 will be completed by next week. A due of Rs 1.50 crore towards the drought relief works will be paid to the concerned in the next four to five days,” he assured.

“Four modern boats and other equipment will be purchased by the district administration to handle the flood situation. A training will be provided to the officials from the Disaster Management Department, after the completion of election process,” Gautam said.

“Meetings have been held on the long pending projects such as Malaluru lift irrigation project, the Tumakuru – Shivamogga National Highway and the Chikkamagaluru – Sakleshpur railway line. Efforts will be made to implement the projects. Also, it has been decided to complete the works on the Karagada irrigation project,” the officer said.

Stating that some minor works pending under the Amrit project, Gautam said that the works will be completed by June-end. The work on the laying on drinking water pipe has been accelerated, he added.

Additional Deputy Commissioner Dr Kumar was present at the press meet.

Inspection by DC

On Thursday, the deputy commissioner also paid visits to various residential layouts in Chikkamagaluru and carried out an inspection of the water supply.

The deputy commissioner gathered information from people at Basavanahalli, Vijayapura, Gowrikaluve and Ramanahalli, along with inspecting the bore wells in these regions.

The residents complained that the CMC had been irregular in supplying water.