Karnataka - Bijapur   

Eshwarappa pulls up district officers

Staff Correspondent

Two officials to be placed under suspension for alleged misappropriation of funds

ASSESSMENT: Water Resources Minister K.S. Eshwarappa (right) reviewing the Karnataka Development Programme in Bijapur on Tuesday.

BIJAPUR: Minister for Water Resources K.S. Eshwarappa on Tuesday pulled up district officers for poor follow-up in getting files of various development works moved.

Reviewing the quarterly meeting of Karnataka Development Programme here Mr. Eshwarappa, who is also district in-charge Minister, directed the officials to be in constant touch with him in clearing the files at Government level.

Anomalies in watershed programme, ration card distribution, power supply, functioning of social welfare and agriculture departments, delay in preparing detailed estimates on Bijapur city development project and violation of norms on sand mining, dominated the proceedings.

Minister directed Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer Rajeev Ranjan to initiate steps to suspend two officers from the watershed department, Mukihal and Kavalagi, who allegedly misappropriated over Rs. 10 lakh. Mr. Eshwarappa directed the Executive Engineer of the Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board to file within a month the detailed estimate on water supply and drainage improvement project of Bijapur city. MLAs Appasaheb Pattanashetti, Shivaputrappa Desai and Ashok Shabadi complained that officers in most departments kept them in the dark about the development programme in their respective segments.

Mr. Eshwarappa directed the officials to work in coordination with public representatives, especially MLAs. While finalising projects, the MLAs should be taken into confidence.

Executive Engineer, Bijapur Division of Hubli Electricity Company, Vithal Teli and his counterpart in Indi Division, Sadashiva Jamkhandi said their divisions were facing shortage of over 400 transformers, as a result of which power supply in the district, especially in rural areas, had become erratic.

They said pending bills from farmers and village local bodies and government departments crossed a whopping Rs. 120 crore in the district alone. Mr. Eshwarappa promised to see that the government agencies paid the arrears to HESCOM.

Zilla panchayat member Panchappa Kalburgi sought the attention of the Minister to the illegal sand mining and movement of heavy vehicles on four barrage-cum-bridges across the Bhima. These structures were weakening owing to movement of such vehicles.

Mr. Eshwarappa asked the Executive Engineer of Minor Irrigation Department to restrict the movement of vehicles. Zilla panchayat president Arjun Rathod and Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mohsin participated.

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Eshwarappa pulls up district officers

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