Water and fodder crises haunt north Karnataka districts in summer

KOPPAL: As the summer is becoming harsh and water bodies are drying up, the district administrations of Koppal, Ballari and Vijayanagar are preparing to face the water and fodder shortage.
The deputy commissioners of Koppal, Vijayanagar and Ballari will constitute a task force to discuss measures to be taken to solve the drinking water and fodder problems.
This is a meeting held every summer by the respective deputy commissioners who are also the chairmen of the District Disaster Management Authority. A plan will be made to ensure drinking water and fodder for cattle till the rainy season arrives. Alternative measures are to be ready before the water level recedes in the canals of Tungabhadra Dam and its backwaters.
Among the three districts, the task force meeting was held in Koppal district recently and information has been received that Vijayanagar and Ballari districts will convene a meeting soon.
Koppal DC M Sundaresh Babu said minor repairs of all works related to drinking water should be done within a week. Villages and towns dependent on bore wells should be given ward-wise information and a list of villages facing drinking water problems should be made by the end of April, he said.
It is instructed that the complaints regarding drinking water should be resolved within 24 hours. Alternative measures should be taken in tandas and villages that depend on bore well water. Officials must ensure that electrical connection is not disrupted for all drinking water projects, the DC said.
Zilla panchayat chief executive officer Rahul Ratnam Pandey has directed officials to repair the clean drinking water units that need to be repaired within a week and list the tandas and villages that depend on bore well water and prepare an alternative plan.
It is estimated that nine villages in Kanakagiri taluk, seven in Gangavati taluk, eight in Kushtagi taluk, four in Karatagi taluk and five villages in Kukanur taluk may face a shortage of drinking water. The task force has also been instructed to arrange store enough fodder for cattle wherever necessary. In addition to this, the task force has been instructed to arrange enough fodder stock for cattle.