The Bharatiya Janata Party workers on Monday took out a 15-km long padayatra from Talaguppa village to Sagar demanding the inclusion of rural areas in the project under which drinking water has been provided to Sagar from the Sharavati river.
The residents of Iduvani, Bachagaru, Talavata, Choorikatte, Talaguppa, Balegaru and surrounding villages took part in the padayatra in large numbers.
The State government had sanctioned Rs. 57 crore to supply drinking water to Sagar from the Sharavati river in 2009. The Karnataka Urban Water Supply and Sewage Board(KUWSSB) was the implementing agency for the project. As part of the project, the work of laying 31-km long pipeline from Kargal, where the water will be lifted from the river, and installation of electric pumping machines has been completed. Sagar is already getting water from the project.
Addressing a protest meet in Sagar to mark the conclusion of the padayatra, the former Minister, H. Halappa, said that the Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj had paid Rs. 4.50 crore to KUWSSB to provide drinking water under the project for 14 villages along the main pipeline. It is unfortunate that the work of laying secondary network of pipelines to draw water from the main pipeline for 14 villages has not been completed yet, he said.
He urged the government to take measures to provide water for the 14 villages from the project at the earliest. The former MLA, Belur Gopalakrishna and ZP member of Rajashekhar Galipura also took part in the protest.
