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Officials told to be prepared to tackle water scarcity

By Our Staff Correspondent

CHITRADURGA, NOV. 16. Narayanaswamy, chief executive officer of the Chitradurga Zilla Panchayat, has directed the taluk-level officers to make preparations to face the impending drinking water crisis in rural areas.

Participating in the Karnataka Development Programme meeting here on Tuesday, he asked the officers to make arrangements to provide drinking water to rural areas with an emphasis on conservation.

Mr. Narayanaswamy warned the officers of severe action if a drinking water crisis developed due to negligence on the part of the officers.

"The district has received good rainfall, but that is not enough to maintain water supply in summer. We should start preparing to face that challenge from now," he said. He asked officials of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM) to submit a report about the borewells that were yet to be energised in rural areas in the district. He directed the BESCOM officers to provide electricity to farmers at least during the timings specified by the Government.

Power supply

H. Hanumanthappa, chairman of the Standing Committee on Health and Education, explained the problems faced by farmers due to the erratic power supply in the district. He alleged that the officers were not taking any interest in supplying electricity to the farmers. Mr. Narayanaswamy suggested that the officers should publish information about power supply in the local newspapers.

M. Ramesh, executive engineer of the zilla panchayat, said that the drinking water crisis would become unmanageable if additional funds were not obtained for water supply management. He also brought to the notice of the meeting that most of the drinking water works had not been finished due to the lack of funds. "The Union Government is yet to release funds towards drinking water projects. Funds have to be released at the earliest as the drinking water crisis is likely to worsen by January," he said.

Funds

H. Nagaraj, vice-president of the zilla panchayat asked the officers to sanction money under the Sujala scheme, a Union Government-aided watershed development programme.

G.T. Thippeswamy, chairman of the Standing Committee on Agriculture, alleged that some of the drinking water works had not been finished in Challakere taluk and urged the panchayat to complete them at the earliest.

Nandeesh, deputy secretary of the zilla panchayat; B.K. Manjunath, chief planning officer; S. Manjunath, chief accounts officer; and G.S. Kariyappa, Deputy Conservator of Forests; participated in the meeting.

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