Udupi: Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Services and Sports, on Thursday directed the officers to take all steps to tackle drinking water problem, wherever they occurred in the district.

He was speaking at a meeting of officers of urban local bodies and engineers on drinking water at the District Offices Complex, here.

Mr. Madhwaraj said that though Udupi was not officially declared as a drought-hit district, it suffered from severe drinking water scarcity at many places. He directed the officers to start water rationing, if necessary, to ensure that people did not suffer from water scarcity.

He had visited Kodankur area here in his own Assembly constituency recently and found that people were not getting water for even two hours a day. Though this was impossible to believe, it was a fact.

Water should have been available round-the-clock as Udupi district had so many water sources, but this was not happening. The officers should think of drawing up an integrated drinking water plan. A nodal officer and a consultant should be appointed for this purpose, he said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was expected to call a meeting in the second or third week of February to discuss the water problem and to come up with permanent solutions to it. Hence, it was essential that officers prepared their proposals for the district well in advance before the meeting, he said.

He directed Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (MESCOM) officers not to allow farmers to draw water directly from the rivers. MESCOM should revise its decision on providing electricity connections given for agricultural purposes.

He directed the officers of Drinking Water Task Force to drill eight borewells in Udupi taluk, four in Kundapur taluk and three in Karkala taluk. Mr. Madhwaraj also sought information about the implementation of various drinking water projects under different schemes in the district.

The Executive Officers sought grants of Rs. 90 lakh for Kundapur and Rs. 14.15 lakh for Karkala to supply water through tankers.

T. Venkatesh, Deputy Commissioner, Priyanka Mary Francis, CEO of Zilla Panchayat, Shilpa Nag, Assistant Commissioner, and G. Anuradha, Additional Deputy Commissioner, were present.