Mangaluru, Apr 1: District incharge minister Ramanath Rai on Wednesday April 1 said that the district administration has taken all necessary measures to ensure that there is no scarcity of water in the district during summer.
Addressing a meeting at the DC’s office here, Rai said, “Dakshina Kannada is a unique district. We get heavy rainfall during monsoons and during summer, we face acute scarcity of water. We have made all necessary arrangements to tackle water scarcity this time.
“We have decided to grant Rs 40 lac to each rural constituency of the district to make all necessary arrangements to meet the drinking water needs of the people,” he informed.
“We are supposed to get funds from the central government under natural disaster relief fund. Once we receive these funds, we will utilize it together with state funds to provide solution to water scarcity in the district,” he added.
“Places that are worst hit will be provided water through tankes. I urge the public not to panic or worry about water scarcity. The administration is all ready to tackle any situation,” he assured.
Health minister U T Khadar urged people to be proactive and bring any matter concerning water scarcity to the attention of the officials concerned. “Do not wait till there is acute water shortage. If there is any concern, bring it to the notice of the local officer immediately,” he said. He also instructed the officials to utilize the funds properly, adding that local officers would be held responsible if anything goes wrong.
MLA J R Lobo said that as of now, there are three pipelines from Thumbe dam supplying water to the city. They are 2.5 MGD water pipeline installed in 1957 and two 18 MGD pipelines (one in 1972 and another by KUDCEMP). These three piplelines, which are supposed to supply water to the city, have been tampered at many places by residents enroute Thumbe to Mangalore, particularly the 2.5 MGD pipeline, he said.
“As a result, a lot of water is being wasted every day at the tampered places due to leakage. Secondly, those who tamper it have been using water round the clock. These consumers do not pay for its use,” he pointed out.
J R Lobo instructed the officials of MCC to regulate the use of water through legal means and by handing over these connections to the panchayat, which should be collecting fee for water consumption.
He also said that there is a proposal to hand over the 2.5 MGD pipeline to the zilla panchayat in multi-village water drinking scheme.
DC A B Ibrahim, ZP CEO Srividya, ZP president Asha Thimmappa Gowda and others were present.
Courtesy : Daijiworld