Mandya: Zilla panchayat CEO KR Nandini on Friday directed nodal officers to monitor drinking water scarcity in villages across Mandya district, to conduct regular visits, assess the situation and ensure prompt resolution of public grievances.Addressing a meeting at the ZP office, she instructed the officers to inspect villages facing water shortages, review the availability and supply of drinking water, identify problems faced by residents and take necessary corrective measures. She directed officials to ensure that the private borewells used to meet drinking water requirements during emergencies, are paid their due rents in a timely manner.She also asked all GPs to prominently display drinking water helpline numbers to enable residents report supply-related issues. The ZP will make test calls to verify whether the published numbers are functioning.Emphasising the importance of safe drinking water, the CEO instructed panchayat development officers to ensure regular cleaning of overhead water tanks in their respective gram panchayat limits. They were also asked to test water samples using Field Test Kits (FTKs) to assess water quality.This comes amid Karnataka securing partial relief in the Cauvery water-sharing dispute, with Cauvery water regulation committee (CWRC) directing the state to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily to Tamil Nadu for 15 days from Oct 9. Cauvery water management authority (CWMA) upheld the recommendation during its meeting on Thursday.Tamil Nadu had sought the release of 15,050 cusecs daily, equivalent to 20 TMC over 15 days. However, the committee ordered discharge of 3,000 cusecs daily at Biligundlu, amounting to approximately 3.8 TMC over the period, said water resources minister N Cheluvarayaswamy.Presenting its case, Karnataka cited a 54.5% deficit in reservoir inflows between June 1 and Oct 7. Against the 30-year average of 257.6 TMC, the state received only 117.1 TMC during the period. Karnataka also said it had released 42.4 TMC to Tamil Nadu against the directed quantity of 41.2 TMC, exceeding the requirement by 1.2 TMC. The state further pointed out that storage in its four major reservoirs stood at 46.9 TMC as of Oct 7, of which around 45 TMC was required for drinking water, environmental flows and evaporation losses, leaving limited water for irrigation, he stated.Mysuru City Congress vice-president KV Mallesh condemned the CWMA for ordering the state govt to release 3,000 cusecs of water daily to TN for another 15 days when the state is reeling under drought. Mallesh urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and resolve the issue. The state govt is focusing to provide drinking water to Mysuru, Mandya and Bengaluru from KRS and Kabini dams, he stated.
