Hubballi: So severe is the drought here that people of the twin cities of Gadag and Betageri are being supplied drinking water only once a month and the district administration is able to send water in tankers to only 13 villages in Ron and Mundaragi taluks although several have high fluoride content in their water, making it unhealthy for consumption.
Desperate labourers are leaving in droves in search of employment elsewhere despite work being carried out under the MGNREGS. “Over 25 per cent of the agricultural labourers and farmers have migrated to Goa and Mangalore for work in the construction industry and in their paddy fields owing to the severe drought here,” reveals farmer leader Vijay Kulkarni, alleging that gram panchayat members have hijacked the MGNREGS work for their own ends. “They are creating bogus job cards and indulging in all kinds of corruption,” he claims, also deploring that the government has failed to supply drinking water to all the drought-hit villages of Mundaragi and Shirahatti taluks.
Meanwhile in Bagalkot district, 97 villages are facing an acute drinking water problem with all three rivers passing through it, drying up. The focus here is not on supplying water through tankers, but on sinking more borewells.
Although the administration has not opened a fodder bank yet, it plans to open them now in Badami and Hungund soon. “We have made contingency plans to draw water from private sources and have banned use of water for irrigation. We have reached the target in MGNREGS by taking up drought relief work in all villages. Tahasildars and panchayat development officers are working hard to ensure adequate supply of water,” says deputy commissioner, P.A. Meghannavar.
