Chikkamagaluru : Rural development and panchayat raj minister Eshwara B Khandre on Tuesday said third-party verification would be conducted into alleged incomplete and poor-quality works under Jal Jeevan Mission, with action to follow if irregularities were found.
As many as 859 villages face drinking water problems, and the state has taken steps to supply water through tankers and private borewells. He said Rs 117 crore had been released for rural drinking water when Siddaramaiah was chief minister, while chief minister DK Shivakumar had now released Rs 189 crore for rural assembly constituencies. Funds were not in short supply, and officials were instructed to resolve drinking water problems within 24 hours of being reported. Khandre said rural Karnataka had 2 lakh km of roads, half of them mud roads.
Despite deficient rainfall and drought , supplying safe drinking water to all villages was the state’s top priority, Khandre said at a review meeting. Forest clearance issues affecting multi-village drinking water schemes under JJM had come to govt’s notice and would be resolved according to rules at the earliest, he said. New job cards have been issued, he said.
Villages facing traffic pressure should have at least one connectivity road, and govt had planned a rural road development scheme. In view of drought, individual beneficiaries are allowed to take up borewell recharge, digging of wells, farm ponds, check dams, besides school compound walls and hospital buildings.