Bengaluru:  Chief Secretary T.M. Vijaybhaskar has said that there will be no dearth for drinking water till June across the State including Mysuru and the State Government will ensure sufficient supply of water till the end of summer.

After a review meeting with District Administrations of Karnataka on Tuesday, Vijaybhaskar told reporters that Chief Minister could not participate in the review meetings as election code of conduct was in force and he was holding meetings every fortnight.

24X7 Control Room

The government has decided to set up a 24X7 control room for supplying drinking water during summer. The government was ensuring minimum 55-85 litres of water per person per day and water was being supplied to 60,248 villages. Water was being supplied from dams, reservoirs, hand pumps and borewells. Out of 16,000 RO units to provide drinking water, about 530 were under repair and it will be completed soon, he said. Allaying fears of water shortage, Vijaybhaskar said there was sufficient amount of water in dams to cater to the needs of summer.

KRS water level

At Krishna Raja Sagar Dam, water storage was 89 feet and even in other dams there was good water storage to cater to the needs of the State till June end and the available water will be used for drinking purposes only. The monsoon is expected to set in by June and next two months, water flow from these reservoirs would be maintained as usual, he said. In other areas, where water is not supplied through dams, the District Administrations have been advised to repair and desilt borewells. Barring Kolar area, where borewells are not yielding water, the District Administrations have been allowed to dig new borewells wherever it is necessary.

Tanker trips

Around 1,711 tankers are being used to supply drinking water to 1,141 habitation and the tankers are making 5,270 trips every day. In 26 districts, 1,205 villages are supplied drinking water through 1,893 tankers, he said.

In the wake of drought in 162 taluks, Rs. 1.5 crore allocations had been released to over 100 taluks. For rest 62 taluks, Rs. 75 lakh each has been released, while 14 taluks, which are not drought hit, have been allotted with Rs. 35 lakh each.

Monsoon forecast

As vigorous monsoon has been forecast for Malnad regions of Kodagu, Hassan and Chikkamagalur districts, the government has constituted a senior officers’ committee to take precautions.

Two teams of NDRF have been appointed to oversee Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts and Rs. 682 crore has been released for natural disaster works, he added.

Currently, Rs. 767.27 crore is available with Deputy Commissioners of all districts, he added. All 176 taluks have been declared as drought hit. The Government has empowered all Zilla Panchayats to take up drilling of borewells bypassing tender procedure in order to ensure supply of drinking water in the drought-affected places.

No delay in sinking borewells

“ZPs need not even obtain permission from the government or call tender for sinking borewells in the next two months. This is being done to ensure supply of drinking water in the affected places without any delay,” he said.

Normally, ZPs have to follow the tender procedure as per the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act for sinking borewells.

“The drought situation is aggravating. Drinking water scarcity is expected to become acute in coming days. Hence, the government has allowed drilling of borewells bypassing tender procedure. The ZPs will also take necessary steps to electrify the borewells immediately,”  he added.