MCC awaits govt decision on water supply management

MYSURU: With 10 days remaining for Jamshedpur Utilities and Services Company’s (Jusco) contract to end, there is still no clarity on who will take over the city water supply management.
A week ago, the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) council passed a resolution to keep water management with the civic body. Chief minister Siddaramaiah, during his recent visit to the city, announced that the government will take a call on whether to hand over the management to Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Drainage Board (KUWS&DB) or the MCC.
Corporators are divided over the issue. Mayor Lingappa has appealed the chief minister to allow MCC to handle water supply for six months after which the government take a decision. Some corporators feel that the MCC is not fully equipped to handle water supply and they are even lackadaisical in collecting water tax. Another group of corporators favour the MCC, saying the civic body has the experience of managing water supply since a century.
“Though the MCC council has decided that the MCC will handle the water supply from June 1, the CM has said that the government will decide on it. We are awaiting word from the government,” MCC commissioner C G Betsurmath told TOI.
Jusco’s contract ends on May 31.
Sources said that the CM’s move has created confusion. However, they said that it will not impact water supply in the city, given that both are the government agencies and have experience of handling it.
JD(S) corporator M J Ravikumar said he will take the legal route if the government meddles with the decision of MCC council, which is the supreme body to decide on matters relating to various affairs of the civic body.
Meanwhile, Mysore Grahakara Parishath (MGP) members Chandra Prakash and Bhamy Shenoy have favoured handing over water supply management to KUWS&DB. They believe that KUWS&DB would carry out the remaining water supply rehabilitation work in a more professional manner than the MCC. “And Mysuru will avoid water being used as a political commodity by our netas,” they said.
The MGP said that the government should start planning to hand over the water supply to an independent agency like in Bengaluru. “At the same time, just like the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Board, we need to have Karnataka Water regulatory Board to monitor the operations. Only then can we see the end of political interference and abuse,” they stated.