Bengaluru, August 27: Karnataka Government has launched a GIS-based mobile and web application to improve the scientific management of rural water assets and curb fake billing in drinking water projects.
Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Eshwar B. Khandre said all rural water assets in the State will be geo-tagged to improve transparency and accountability. Karnataka has more than 3 lakh rural water assets, and the government plans to digitise all of them by the end of September. More than 70,000 water assets have already been documented during the first phase of verification, the Minister said.
Three-level verification system
New system will have a three-stage verification process. In the first stage, Assistant Engineers, Junior Engineers and Support Engineers will physically verify 100% of the water assets. In the second stage, Assistant Executive Engineers will conduct random verification of 5% of the assets. In the third stage, Executive Engineers will randomly verify 2% of the assets.
Khandre said contractors and officials could be held responsible if irregularities are found during the verification process. The application has been developed by the Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Department in association with the Karnataka State Remote Sensing Applications Centre (KSRSAC). It will help geo-tag projects and water assets with an accuracy of about 5 metres.
Aim to prevent fake bills
Minister said geo-tagging will make it difficult to raise bills for works that have not actually been completed. The system will also record details about the physical condition, operation and maintenance of each water asset. This is expected to help the government monitor the quality and implementation of rural drinking water projects.
Assets such as borewells, overhead tanks, open wells, pump houses, water treatment plants, balancing reservoirs, lakes, laboratories and hand pumps will be geo-tagged. Existing drinking water assets will be documented first, followed by new and ongoing works.
The geo-tagging system will also record details such as the depth of borewells, pipe installation and motor capacity. Khandre said this information can help third-party inspections and reduce scope for corruption.
Action on non-functional borewells
Khandre directed officials to remove pumps and electricity connections from non-functional borewells to prevent unnecessary electricity bills. Government has also taken up measures to recharge suitable dried-up borewells under the VBG Ramji programme. Around 7,700 borewells have already been recharged, he said.
Officials have been asked to collect details of government-dug borewells, including the number that are non-functional and those suitable for recharge.
₹67,000 crore for rural drinking water projects
Khandre said Karnataka is implementing single-village and multi-village drinking water schemes to supply drinking water from surface water sources. Government is spending around ₹30,000 crore on single-village drinking water schemes and has allocated ₹37,000 crore for multi-village drinking water schemes.
Together, the two programmes involve an estimated ₹67,000 crore investment from the State and Central governments, with around 29,000 works being undertaken.
No shortage of funds for drinking water
Minister said there is no shortage of funds for drinking water projects. The government has already released ₹117 crore in advance. In addition, the Chief Minister has released ₹1 crore for drinking water works in each Assembly constituency.
In areas facing water shortages, private borewells are being hired to supply water. Helplines are also functioning in all districts to respond to drinking water complaints. Khandre also said the government is taking steps to generate rural employment and prevent migration. Under the rural employment guarantee programme, 74.77 lakh person-days have been generated since July 1, with a target of generating 5 lakh person-days every day.
Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Department Secretary Sameer Shukla and senior officials from KSRSAC and the Rural Drinking Water and Sanitation Department attended the programme.
Keywords
Karnataka rural water, Eshwar Khandre, GIS water assets, rural drinking water, borewell recharge, Karnataka water projects, Citizen News Puttur