The Karnataka Congress on Tuesday demanded that the State government include borewell drilling work in the list of essential services to prevent a drinking water crisis in villages this summer.
“Major parts of the State are facing severe drought conditions and shortage of potable water, especially in rural areas. On account of the lockdown, work on drilling borewells has stopped since workers have retreated to their native places,” Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president-designate D.K. Shivakumar said. He demanded that the government take up work on drilling borewells on a war footings.
Addressing presspersons at the party office, he urged the government to call a meeting of owners of rigging machines for initiating drilling work. The workers of borewell drillers should be provided benefits under social security schemes, he added. “This work may be temporarily listed as an essential service,” he said.