Karnataka to revamp water supply gets new focus

Officials have been told to provide water within 8 hrs of getting information of a problem

The Karnataka government will soon have a separate department under the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj ministry for rural drinking water supply and sanitation.

RDPR minister H K Patil, who held a meeting of elected representatives and officers of Belgaum, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Bagalkot and Bijapur districts at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belgaum on Wednesday to review the drinking water supply position and drought situation in the division, told Business Standard that the process of formation of the new department had begun and the department will function from August 15 this year.

He said, the drinking water supply and sanitation in rural areas will get full attention once the staff are allocated to the new department once it starts functioning.

He said, the government had sunk 3,489 borewells in the state. But, they had not been energised, and this results in disruption in the supply of water. Instructions have been issued to energise these borewells immediately, Patil informed.

He said, the officials have been instructed to provide drinking water within eight hours of getting information about the problem. People can lodge their grievances on a toll free number. The minister asked the ZP CEOs and deputy commissioners to coordinate with the department of water resources, rural development and panchayat raj, urban development, electricity and revenue and ensure the drinking water problem did not aggravate.

H K Patil informed that the state government had earmarked Rs 517 crore for supplying drinking water in rural areas. The zilla panchayats already have Rs 240 crore each and an additional amount of Rs 176 crore and Rs 100 crore had been released on April 26 and April 27 respectively, he added.