Water tankers quench thirst in 496 villages

BENGALURU: A major drinking water crisis looms large over the state, with many districts already dependent on tanker water supply. With poor rainfall in the state for the past three years, most water sources are going dry. Replying to a question by Govind Karjol (BJP) in the legislative assembly on Wednesday, rural development and panchayat raj minister H K Patil said the government has started sending water tankers to 496 villages crying for potable water as borewells there have dried up.
He said the government has identified 6,930 villages in the first phase and 7,390 villages in the second phase where drinking water supply has been affected due to successive years of drought and deficient rainfall. "We constituted a task force and a contingency plan to deal with the water crisis, especially during summer,'' Patil said.
Defunct purification units
Members across party lines alleged that many drinking water un its in the state are not working, and the government must prepare a plan to rectify them before summer sets in. While Patil said most water units were functional, MLAs cited numerous cases where these units, costing about Rs 8 lakh each, have gone defunct within 2-3 days after installation. Patil assured quick action against the agency which installed these units after investigating cases mentioned by the MLAs.