File pic of tanker supplying drinking water to villages
Shivamogga : Rural development and panchayat raj minister Eshwar B Khandre on Sunday said Rs 67,000 crore was being spent on Multi-Village and Single-Village Drinking Water Schemes to supply surface water to rural areas amid depleting groundwater levels. He said 80% of Single-Village Scheme works had been completed, while 40% of Multi-Village Scheme works remained pending across the state. Khandre said providing roads, drinking water, streetlights, sanitation and timely E-Swathu property documents was the primary duty of panchayat staff serving more than 4.5 crore rural residents.
Tanker operators should be paid promptly to prevent disruption, he said. Khandre said substantial funds in deputy commissioner’s personal deposit account remained unused and called for immediate steps to drill new borewells and prepare for summer. On delays in laying pipelines through forest land, he said a meeting with senior forest department officials would soon be convened in Bengaluru to resolve clearance issues.
Presiding over a departmental review meeting in Shivamogga, Khandre directed officials to complete pending work on a war footing to provide clean drinking water. To address immediate shortages, he instructed officials to hire private borewells or supply water through tankers from alternative sources.