Krishna insists on time-bound action

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, FEB. 5. The Chief Minister, Mr. S. M. Krishna, has said that the State Government has plans to tap the World Bank, which provides assistance at an interest rate of below one per cent for poverty alleviation programmes.

He was inaugurating the first meeting of the Karnataka Technology Mission for Water Supply and Sanitation here on Saturday. The Minister for Urban Development, Mr B.B.Chimmanna Katti, the Minister for Social Welfare, Mr Kagodu Thimmappa, and the Minister for Sericulture, Mr M.Mahadev, are among the members of the mission of which Mr. Krishna is the Chairman and the Minister for Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Mr M.Y.Ghorpade, the Vice- Chairman.

The Chief Minister, who referred to the Ganga Kalyan scheme, aimed at providing water to the poor people, said it could be further improved with a proper perspective plan, and the proposal could be made over to the World Bank. Villagers could no longer wait, and the Government had to respond quickly in providing them basic amenities. The urban-rural divide in providing basic amenities should be ended.

Mr. Krishna said there should be a time-bound programme for water supply and sanitation development works. Senior officers should oversee the implementation of the schemes and report to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the mission.

Of the over Rs. 10,000 crores loan sought from the World Bank, he said, around Rs. 7,000 crores would be deployed for rural works particularly rural water supply and sanitation.

He said the Government was doing its best to mobilise resources for providing drinking water to people on a sustainable basis. ``We are now spending about Rs 400 crores a year on rural water supply and another Rs 300 crores on water supply in the cities and towns of which Rs. 130 crores went towards the water supply in Bangalore City. The Government was implementing several water supply projects with the financial assistance of the Government of Netherlands, the Government of Denmark and the Government of Japan apart from the World Bank.

The Chief Minister said, the quality and quantity of ground water was a common issue in respect of water supply throughout the State. Over 4,500 villages faced serious problems with regard to the quality of water. The water in these areas had excess fluoride which resulted in fluorosis. In certain pockets of North Karnataka, there was also the problem posed by brackish water which made it necessary to find alternative sources of water.

Mr. Krishna appreciated the donation of Rs 30 lakhs by Dr. Anantharam of Las Vegas, USA, for the development of Kamasamudra village in Doddaballapur, and said the State Government would make a matching grant for the development of the village. Dr. Anantharam, a plastic surgeon, is a native of Kamasamudra. He and his daughter were felicitated.

Mr. Ghorpade said the Government had undertaken water yield and water quality tests which should help in ascertaining the availability of water from the 1.65 lakh borewells and the 27,000 mini water schemes in the State. The survey, to be completed in about three months, would also indicate the availability of ground water and consequently the ways of safeguarding them could also be evolved.

The Minister for Urban Development, Mr B.B.Chimmanna Katti said apart from commissioning water supply schemes, there was the need to strengthen the water distribution network. Many of the local bodies were short of funds to lay distribution lines. Further, 30 per cent of the water connections were illegal and people by and large believed that they need not pay for the water made available to them.

The Chief Minister, Mr. S. M. Krishna, addressing the first meeting of the Apex Council of the Karnataka Technology Mission for Water Supply and Sanitation in Bangalore on Saturday.

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