The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Cabinet approves drinking water project

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Tuesday, Aug 19, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Cabinet approves drinking water project

Special Correspondent

The scheme will cover 462 villages in 12 backward taluks

75 per cent of the project cost to be borne by Centre
It is aimed at villages with fluoride problem

BANGALORE: The State Cabinet on Monday granted administrative approval for a major drinking water project which would encompass several backward districts of the State.

Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Shobha Karandlaje told presspersons here on Monday after the Cabinet meet that senior officials of the departments concerned had been asked to prepare a detailed project report which would be forwarded to the Centre for approval. The Rs. 218-crore drinking water scheme would be under the newly announced Centre-State scheme in which the Centre would provide 75 per cent and the balance would have to be borne by the State.

Under the scheme, all the villages which had a fluoride and nitrite content in the groundwater, would be provided with river water supply — particularly from the Krishna, the Cauvery and other perennial rivers which had sufficient water even during peak summer. In all, 462 villages in 12 taluks of seven districts would be covered under the programme.

The districts were Bagalkot (Jhamkandi, Hungund and Badami taluks ), Bellary (Hadagali), Koppal (Koppal, Yelburga and Gangavathi), Raichur (Manvi and Sindhanur), Kolar (Malur), Chickaballapur (Bagepalli), Davangere (Davangere), Mandya (K.R. Pet and Pandavapura) and Belgaum (Athani and Chikkodi).

With reference to the release of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu (from the Krishnarajasagar and Kabini reservoirs), Ms. Karandlaje said of the stipulated quantum of release as per the final order of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, Karnataka would more than meet the prescribed releases.

The State had been asked to release 62 tmcft of water as of August 31(during the current water year) and as of date 58 tmcft of water had been released. As per reports received in Bangalore on Monday, 27,000 cusecs of water was being released to Tamil Nadu.

The Cabinet authorised Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to reconstitute the Cabinet sub-committee empowered to monitor and take decision on important and sensitive matters relating to the inter-State river water disputes pertaining to the Krishna, the Cauvery and the Mahadayi.

Several cases pertaining to these rivers were before the Supreme Court and the successive governments had appointed a cabinet subcommittee to monitor and decide on issues relating to the pending cases.

Ms. Karandlaje said the Cabinet discussed empowering the Lokayukta with adequate powers to prosecute the corrupt officers whose premises were searched and a prima facie case of possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income was established.

At present, the departments merely ordered the suspension of the officers against whom the Lokayukta filed a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and in most cases the officers were reinstated within a short span of time.

The matter regarding providing additional powers to the Lokayukta was expected to be finalised during the next sitting of the Cabinet.

The Chief Minister would look into the grievances of nearly 10 physically handicapped persons who were appointed in government service by the former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy on compassionate grounds. They were all serving as contract employees in the Chief Minister’s office to attend to the representations received by the Chief Minister during the “Janata Darshan”. All these employees had not been paid for the last three months after the new Government came into being.

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