Udupi: Erratic supply of drinking water to residents of Udupi city municipality dominated the monthly meeting of the council here on Tuesday While the authorities maintained that the water storage level at Baje and Shiroor vented dams is comfortable to meet the potable water needs of the city they Assured the councillors that a likely problem with distribution network will be addressed and water supplied to stakeholders as usual.
Girish Anchan, councillor representing Kunjibettu ward who flagged the issue sald assurance by the CMC to provide 24 hours water supply has remained a pipe dream and residents in some areas in his ward get water only for 6 hours Vijaya lakshmi, councillor from Saralebettu ward said that around 50 houses in her ward did not receive regular water supply. Mohan Raj, AEE, said he will look in to the issue.
Issue of stray dogs contuning to rule the city roads forced councillor Krishna Rao Kodancha to question the efficacy of sterilisation drive that CMC carried out last year at a cost of Rs 6 Lakh. Rao demanded that CMC should first penalise people for littering which could address the issue of stray dogs to a large extent. Councillor Ramesh Kanchan said that CCTV cameras should be used to find violators and slapped with fine of Rs 5,000.
Councillor also targeted the perceived lackadaisical atattitude of engineers from Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation for the manner in which they are implementing the much touted 'Varahi water supply scheme for this temple town.
The councillors alleged that the engineers concerned are not replacing the pipeline even where it was required in some spots and this could create problems in the future.
Udupi MLA K Raghupathi Bhat suggested that the CMC flag the issue of section of villagers residing in villages abutting the CMC boundaries dumping waste inside its limits with Dr Naveen Bhat Y, CEO of Udupi zil la panchayat (ZP).
The suggestion came during a discussion on the slow progress in implementation of an initiative taken by the CMC in handling solid waste. Bhat said this issue can be solved only with cooperation of ZP.