Pics: Umesh Marpalli

Udupi, Jun 18: Karnataka revenue minister R V Deshpande came down heavily on government officials for failing to tackle water shortage woes effectively in the district.

At a review meeting held at Rajathadari on Tuesday, June 18, Deshpande said there is no lack of funds for drinking water management. However, he said that government officials need to work sincerely and actively towards solving problems.

“Government officials should welcome the public when they approach any department. They should develop discipline. PDOs have miserably failed in getting the drains cleared,” he said.

Zilla Panchayat CEO Sindhu Rupesh said that there are 158 panchayats in the district and only three executive officers are working. New taluks are not formed so far. She said that she has given instructions to clean drains in all panchayats before elections.

However, Deshpande was disappointed with the poor response of the officials. “Bureaucrats are not king makers. We are the government. Officials should work hard and not bring bad name to the government. Officers should move to rural and urban places and be alert. In next 15 days, do try to visit all panchayats by sharing responsibilities.”

Revenue minister instructed the CEO to send intimations to all PDOs to visit all panchayats in eight days and submit report on drainage management.

MLA Raghupati Bhat blamed CMC for failing to take necessary precautions before monsoon. “CMC has failed to supply water in tankers in many places. Tender has been cleared for only four wards out of 35 under CMC. The local councillors as well as me have put money from our own pockets to solve water problem,” he said.

Minister Deshpande took CMC commissioner Anand Kallolikar to task along with other officials. “June month is coming to an end and now the tender has got finalized. What is the benefit? Is this the way of working? Though there is no lack of funds, why is water not being supplied? This is insult to government. This shows negligence and disinterest in the working of the officials," he lashed out.

District administration can use local councillors to Swacchatha programme, he added. 

“Let’s extend the tanker water facilities to areas wherever necessary,” said the minister.

CEO Sindhu Rupesh said, “Swacchatha drive has been started from June 11 and there are 40 new Solid Liquid Resource Management (SLRM) units which will be coming up in the district.”

“A fund of Rs 45 lac has been sanctioned to the municipality for arranging drinking water facilities. There is need to find out permanent solution with regard to water supply. Tanker water is a temporary solution. Within a short time, district administration needs to plan and discuss with officers. It is the duty of protecting the government assets. All officers have same accountability. There are 1600 bore wells in the district, but this is huge number. This is a serious issue and the reason for the increasing number of bore wells should be investigated,” the minister told DC.

Raghupati Bhat said the forest department is not allotting land to constructing sites and citing plantation on the land as the reason.

The minister directed the forest officer to clearly state the problems on allotting land to construction sites. “There is no need to have plantations in other departmental sites,” he said.

Hephsiba Rani Korlapati, deputy commissioner, Nisha James, district superintendent of police, Dinakar Babu, president, zilla panchayat, Sheela Shetty, vice president, Ivan D’Souza, MLC and Parliamentary Secretary, Kota Srinivas Poojary, Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, Raghupati Bhat, MLA Udupi, Lalaji Mendon, MLA Kaup and others were present.

First priority should be given to drinking water: R V Deshpande

The state government has taken up several measures to tackle drought. Udupi district is facing a rain deficit of 47 percent, said Revenue minister R V Deshpande.

Speaking to the reporters after the Development Review Meeting held at Udupi on Tuesday, Deshpande highlighted that since the last six months he has been promptly sending letters to deputy commissioners of all districts and CEOs regarding drinking water supply management and flood management. 

“I have given clear cut instructions. People and animals should not suffer due to lack of water. The problem of scarcity of grass should not arise. There is less progress under National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) in the district. The government has sanctioned enough funds for the Udupi district administration,” he said.

A sum of Rs 24 crore is reserved for water and flood management activities [Rs 6 crores under State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Rs 18 crore under National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), he informed.

“I have gone through the rainfall report of the district. Except 2005, 2010, 2017, there was drought in last 14 years. No one will believe that there are no rains in coastal region,” Deshpande said.

“We have stressed for the supply of water through tankers. There is no compromise in providing drinking water supply. We have sanctioned enough funds. Officers should work actively and move around the district, rural areas to understand the ground reality. In my experience, most of the officers will not do it. It is a must that they should remain in touch with people and should put in sincere efforts in completing the work. The officers need to keep the confidence people have on them and people’s representatives,” he said. 

Caste and religion differences should not come in between while solving drought related problems. Opinion of the people should be collected, he said.

When media questioned regarding absence of Udupi district-in-charge minister Dr Jayamala, especially when the district is suffering, Deshpande said that she is attending a state-level meeting.

“She contacted me last night and told me about the meeting. Let us show some concern towards women. She will definitely conduct meeting here soon,” he assured.