The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Water supply to Bangalore to be augmented

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 01, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Water supply to Bangalore to be augmented

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: An additional 500 million litres a day of Cauvery water will be supplied to Bangalore city from the second phase of the fourth stage of the Cauvery Water Supply Scheme, which will become operational 2011-12, Home Minister M.P. Prakash said on Tuesday.

Replying on behalf of the Chief Minister during question hour in the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Prakash told Vatal Nagaraj (Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha) that the estimated cost of the second phase was Rs. 2,830.70 crore. The first phase of the fourth stage would be completed in September and it would augment water supply by 100 million litres a day. Bangalore had been getting drinking water from the Cauvery since 1974, he said.

Bangalore received 38 million litres of water daily from the Thippgondanahalli reservoir. An expert committee had been constituted to find out new water sources for the city.

R. Roshan Baig (Congress) said nearly 50 per cent of water drawn by the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board went down the drain.

Leader of the Opposition N. Dharam Singh suggested that the Government constitute a metropolitan authority to coordinate the activities of various civic agencies to tackle infrastructure problems.

Satellite towns

In a reply to K. Srinivas Gowda (Congress), Mr. Prakash said the Government had decided to acquire land at Bidadi, Sathnur, Ramanagaram, Solur and Nandagudi to establish satellite towns. As many as 9,178.29 acres would be acquired for the township at Bidadi. Farmers whose land was acquired would be given 8,000 sq. ft of developed land for each acre acquired or they would be paid Rs. 20 lakh to Rs. 25 lakh for an acre, he said.

On the demand for special status for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, Mr. Prakash said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh would be visiting the State on Friday. During the visit, the Government would brief Dr. Singh about the issue and submit a memorandum demanding that special status be given to the region under Article 370 of the Constitution.

Awards

Minister for Youth Services and Sports Alkod Hanumanthappa said the prestigious Ekalavya Awards (2002-06) would be conferred on sportspersons in September. There had been a delay in presenting the awards because funds were not released, he said.

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