The Hindu : Karnataka News : Govt. may have to review decision

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 23, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Govt. may have to review decision

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, JULY 22. The State Government will review the decision on 24-hour power supply to rural areas if the southwest monsoon plays truant and there is a reduction in the storage in the hydel reservoirs.

The Minister for Public Works and Energy, H.D. Revanna, replying to H.D. Basavaraj during Question Hour in the Legislative Assembly today, said the Government had taken note of the depleting storage in the hydel reservoirs. A fortnight ago, the Government announced that there would be 24-hour power supply in the rural areas until August-end. This would be reviewed if the monsoon did not revive.

Technical problems

He said the 24-hour power supply to rural areas comprised three-phase power for 20 hours and single-phase power for four hours. However, nearly 25 per cent of the rural areas could not be given this supply owing to technical problems in some of the transmission and distribution lines. To ensure 24-hour supply for the whole year, the additional power requirement would be around 39,000 million units (mu).

Mr. Revanna said the daily average requirement of power for the current year was estimated at 106.7 mu. While Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd. with its hydel and thermal sources generated around 48 mu a day, Visvesvaraya Electricity Corporation produced around 3.50 mu. Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Ltd. also received around 25.4 mu from Central generating stations.

The Government owed Rs. 4,098 crores to the electricity supply companies as on March 31 last.

Vikasa Soudha

Mr. Revanna, replying to Katta Subramanya Naidu, said work on the Vikasa Soudha would be completed in two months. While the original estimated cost was Rs. 100 crores, the cost had now been revised to Rs. 125 crores.

There would be 118 rooms in the Vikasa Soudha and 14 government departments would be accommodated in the building.

Apology sought

Soon after the commencement of Question Hour, there was a commotion in the Assembly with a major section of the Opposition members walking up to the Speaker, Krishna, and demanding an apology from the Government for a remark made by Basavaraj Rayaraddi (Congress).

The Minister for Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs, M.P. Prakash, tendered an apology and the House returned to normal business.

Even as the Water Resources Minister, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, was replying to H. Anjaneya, Mr. Rayaraddi intervened and made a caustic remark, angering the Opposition members. The Speaker said he would consider expunging the remark.

Replying to Mr. Anjaneya, Mr. Kharge said the Government was keen on restarting the programme to desilt tanks and lakes and hoped that the Cabinet subcommittee headed by the Revenue Minister, which was looking into various aspects of the food-for-work programme, would recommend that the programme be restarted. All works under the food-for-work had been suspended following complaints on the diversion of foodgrains and the ongoing Corps of Detectives (CoD) investigation of the matter. Contractors and the engineers concerned were refusing to restart work.

Mr. Kharge told Prakash Khandre that work on the Karanja project in Bidar district was in progress and the 25-year old project now undertaken under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme of the Union Government would be completed by the end of 2005. Around 75 acres of land around the dam would be landscaped and developed into a garden.

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