Blame game begins over irregular water supply in Belagavi

Belagavi: People of Belagavi are facing water supply problems in the beginning of summer itself. For the past one month, people are suffering repeated supply disruptions. Ahead of elections, the opposition is leaving no stone unturned to corner the city BJP legislators over the issue.
Water is being supplies only once in 5-7 days in the posh areas like Sadashiv Nagar, Hanuman Nagar, Shivbasavnagar, Bhagya Nagar, Shahapur and Vadagaon, while areas in the outskirts are getting water once in 10-12 days. There are around 70,000 water connections in the city. Due to disruption in water supply, people are opting for costly tanker water. The tanker water, however, is not fit for drinking.
People are complaining against L&T officials for the mismanagement of water supply. They say Karnataka Water Supply Board earlier was giving better service than L&T. Narayan Patil of Shivbasav Nagar says hand overing water supply work to L&T is a loss to both Belagavi residents and the government due to the bad service and the cost incurred.
Last week, L&T had issued a public notification that water supply would be disrupted in the summer, as water storage at Rakaskop Dam is four feet lesser than last year. The company is also citing repairs of pipelines.
However, Congress leader and former MLA Ramesh Kudachi says L&T has given a misleading statement. “We have two sources of water – Rakaskop Dam and Hidkal Dam. When I was the mayor 25 years ago, Rakaskop was the only source of water. To provide 24X7 water, the project of bringing water from Hidkal Dam was implemented. Presently, we can get 12 MGD water from Rakaskop and 18 MGD from Hidkal. According to plan, this water is enough to supply 24X7 water till 2032. Forget 24X7 water, people are struggling to get water once a week now due to the negligence of BJP government in strengthening the supply chain. What is the contribution of BJP MLA in smoothening the water supply in the city?” Kudachi said.
Belagavi (South) MLA Abhay Patil blames L&T for not giving good service. I am trying at the government level to blacklist the company, he said. He added that the water supply chain is being improved across the city and the work is getting delayed due to Cantonment Board of Belagavi delaying approval to lay pipeline in its area.