Councillors highlight water problem in some wards in city

Mayor assures them of early resolution of the issue in Bunder and Kudroli wards

Councillors from the ruling and Opposition parties on Saturday lamented over non-resolution of the drinking water supply problem in some wards in the city.

At the start of the ordinary meeting of Mangaluru City Corporation council chaired by Mayor Premanand Shetty here, Samshuddin and Zeenath Samshuddin, councillors from Kudroli and Bunder wards, rushed to the well of the house with placards. The two carried out a silent demonstration demanding resolution of drinking water supply problem in their wards.

When Mr. Premanand Shetty asked the two to speak on the issue, Mr. Samshuddin said despite raising the water supply problem in their ward for two years, officials have failed to address it. Ms. Zeenath too alleged that officials had failed to properly address the water supply issue of her ward.

Councillor Jagadish Boloor said some parts of Boloor ward were not receiving drinking water. Chief Whip Sudheer Shetty Kannur said most of the residents of Vivekanagar in Kodailbail ward in the central part of the city had not received a single drop of water for the last one month.

While assuring of early resolution of the problem in Bunder and Kudroli wards, Mr. Shetty said the KUIDFC, which has taken up the work of extending the water supply network in the city, would resolve water supply issues. An MCC official said the problem in Boloor was a recent one and efforts were being made to identify the source of leakage.

While welcoming the recent decision of the State government to notify reduction in the water tariff and provide 20,000 litres of water at ₹100, senior Congress councillor Shashidhar Hegde said the decision was taken just ahead of the Assembly elections. “We have been demanding reduction for the last two years. We can understand why the notification has been made now.” Another Congress councillor, Praveenchandra Alva, said this was nothing by an election gimmick by the BJP government.

The Mayor said the revised water tariff had come into effect from August 1. The revised tariff would be in force for one year and then the MCC had to take approval of the State government for new water tariff, he said.