Bidar: It seems one hand of the Government does not know what the other is doing. Bidar City Municipal Council (CMC) says it has no money to pay dues of Rs. 10.47 crore to the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWS&DB) that supplies water to Bidar city.

The State Government said there was no shortage of funds for drinking water supply schemes. Lack of funds has affected water supply in Bidar. The board had run out of chemicals to purify water. Officials said the board had no money to buy fresh stocks. Doctors said this would have a bearing on the large number of jaundice cases reported in the city.

Ultimatum to CMC

The board had given an ultimatum to the CMC to pay its dues. "Or else, we will be forced to stop drinking water supply to Bidar without notice," the board said in a letter to the CMC.

Higher Education Minister and floor leader in the Legislative Council D.H. Shankaramurthy said the State Government would take up drinking water projects on priority. It would rectify the problems with regard to water supply on priority. He was answering a question in the Legislative Council by Quazi Arshad Ali. He assured the House that there was no shortage of funds for "any drinking water supply project or scheme anywhere in the State".

Water users blamed

The CMC said it had no money to pay the dues. It blamed the water users who had defaulted on bill payments for 13 years now.

The project to supply Manjra river water to Bidar city was conceived in 1980. But it was implemented only in 1995. The foundation stone was laid in 1995. The final phase of the project was completed only in 2002.

The board and the CMC agreed in 1995 that while the former would manage the project, the latter would pay for it. The people of Bidar had seen that the board had kept its promise while the CMC had not.

An attempt was made to transfer water supply to the board in 1998. The State Government had asked the CMC to pay dues to the board by October 21, 1998 failing which it would take over drinking water supply in the city. This order was not followed.

An agreement was signed in October 1998. Then the CMC agreed to pay Rs. 4 lakh a month to the board till tap connections in the city were metered. The CMC paid only Rs. 2 lakh a month. This would suffice only to pay salaries. "We are forced to buy purification chemicals with our own funds," said a senior officer of the board.

The board was forced to substitute cheaper chemicals for costlier, but more efficient ones. "For example, we buy alum to purify water in place of poly aluminium chloride which is five times more expensive, but seven times more efficient," sources said.

This year, the board sought Rs. 1.78 crore as annual fee.

"Of this, we wanted Rs. 15 lakh immediately to pay off dues of chemical suppliers. We need to buy chemicals immediately. We will run out of chemical supplies in three weeks. If the CMC continues to ignore our demand, the people of Bidar will face drinking water scarcity during the rainy season," said a senior officer of the board.

District in-charge and Agriculture Minister Bandeppa Kashempur said he would instruct the CMC to release sufficient funds to the board.

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