A file photo of multi village drinking water facility at Udbur village on the outskirts of Mysuru.
Karnataka has more than 3 lakh rural water assets, all of which will be digitised by the end of September. More than 70,000 such assets have already been mapped and documented during the first phase of verification, according to the minister.
This will put an end to such malpractices,” Khandre said during the launch. “This can help detect cases where contractors claim to have drilled deeper than they actually did, duplicate borewell works are shown at the same or nearby locations, or payments are made for infrastructure that does not match the work executed on the ground,” the minister said. The move is aimed at addressing a long-standing concern in villages — bills being raised for works that are either incomplete, duplicated or not carried out at all. “Post the digitisation of these assets, contractors or agencies cannot simply claim that a borewell was drilled, a tank was constructed or equipment was installed without the work being physically verified and linked to a geographical location. The application has been developed in collaboration with Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC) and can record locations with an accuracy of up to five metres. RDPR minister Eshwar Khandre launches the GIS-based mobile and web application to geo-tag and digitally track rural drinking-water assets across Karnataka in collaboration with Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC) Borewell drilling will receive special scrutiny, with the application recording the location, depth drilled, depth at which pipes were installed and horsepower (HP) of the motor fitted.
The GIS application, launched by RDPR minister Eshwar Khandre on Thursday, will geo-tag every rural drinking-water asset and record its location, physical condition, as well as its operation and maintenance status.
An advance of ₹117 crore has been released, while the CM has sanctioned ₹1 crore per Assembly constituency for drinking-water requirements. ”
The minister said the ultimate objective is to make rural drinking-water schemes more people-friendly and ensure that public money results in functioning infrastructure rather than merely paperwork. Stating that there is no shortage of funds for potable water supply, Khandre said, “There is no shortage of funds for drinking water. Geo-tagging will also make third-party inspections easier and help establish whether an asset exists at the location for which the bill was raised. The minister has directed that all existing rural drinking-water assets be geo-tagged and documented. New and ongoing works will also have to be geo-tagged.