Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra apprised the officials of the district administration that the Model Code of Conduct for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections will not be an impediment to carrying out drought relief works.
He addressed them soon after a video conference with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah who took stock of the drought situation across the State and reviewed the preparations on Tuesday.
Mr. Rajendra informed the officials that there was no paucity of funds and under no circumstances should any habitation face drinking water scarcity in the months ahead when summer will be at its peak.
He also instructed the officials to deploy a nodal engineer for every Gram Panchayat who should submit report on a daily basis pertaining to the water scenario. The DC made it clear that while ensuring water supply, the quality should also be tested before distribution.
Earlier, the DCs across the State were instructed by the Chief Minister not only to ensure that there was no water scarcity but jobs under MGNREGA should be increased from 100 days to 150 days. However, the CM said that this has been proposed to the Union government and if approved it will help prevent distress migration in rural areas.
Borewells and tankers
The officials received instruction to harness every available source including tapping private borewells to overcome water scarcity besides ensuring supply through tankers. Other instructions issued to the officials by the Chief Minister included establishing control rooms exclusively to deal with water scarcity at the taluk levels and to abstain from proceeding on leave during the crisis period.
