Karnataka Chief Minister and Congress leader Siddaramaiah filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the central government demanding for the immediate release of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to tackle the water crisis in the state. CM accused the Centre of neglecting the state’s request for the release of funds.
Siddaramaiah allegedly said that the Modi government is violating the law by not providing the funds as it has been predicted previously to the state government’s needs. “According to the law, the central government has to release the funds as it has been predicted previously to the state government’s needs. The NDRF and SDRF funds, have to be constituted under the disaster funds,” Karnataka CM said. He asserted that the state is facing a vast problem of the water crisis and amid the situation, the Karnataka government has waited so long to get help from the central government. “The Karnataka government had waited for a long time and now inevitably we are going to file a petition in the Supreme Court against the central government demanding a direction to the Center to immediately release NDRF funds to the state,” he said.
Talking about the Bengaluru current situation, he said that the 6900 borewells and most of the lakes have dried up. “2600 MLD of water is required for Bengaluru every day. In June, we will provide water to all 110 villages around Bengaluru,” CM said. Siddaramaiah also informed us that he has a meeting with the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the energy department to discuss and cure the situation.
State Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda informed that after lacking help from the central government, the state government has released Rs 80 crore to districts to manage the drinking water situation and fodder requirement for livestock. “There’s a drinking water problem in about 1000 villages of the state, out of which, in about 250 villages water is being supplied through water tankers,” Gowda said.
The state Capital has been facing a water crisis for a long time. The is struggling with several water shortages before the summer arrived. Earlier, the citizens have also raised the issue of water scarcity in Bengaluru. Residents of many apartment complexes informed that their societies are sending out notices of water scarcity.