Karnataka Water Crisis: 324 Villages Face Severe Shortage as Summer Begins

A water crisis has hit 324 villages across Karnataka as summer begins. The government is supplying water via tankers and borewells, allocating funds and setting up control rooms to manage shortages.

Bengaluru: The summer has barely started, but a severe drinking water crisis has already hit 324 villages across 60 taluks in 20 districts of Karnataka. To tackle this, the government is supplying water to 76 of these villages through tankers and to the remaining 248 villages by renting 280 private borewells. This information was shared by the Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister, Priyank Kharge.

In a press statement, the minister announced that Rs 60 crore has already been allocated to the districts for emergency water-related works. An additional Rs 14.50 crore has been released specifically for repairing pure drinking water units.

To ensure that rural areas have an uninterrupted water supply during the summer, officials from the Zilla Panchayat CEO level down to the taluk and gram panchayat levels are keeping a close watch and holding regular review meetings. For context, Karnataka has 31 districts, 26,676 villages, and 57,883 habitations, which are home to 1,01,30,798 households. The minister assured that if any rural area faces a shortage, the government will rent private borewells. "If necessary, we will also supply water through tankers. We will also try to solve the problem by flushing and deepening existing borewells," he said.

Control Rooms Set Up:

To manage the water scarcity effectively, 24/7 control rooms have been opened in all Zilla Panchayats. "At the taluk level, a rapid action force has been formed under the Executive Officers to manage the situation on the ground," the minister explained.