Hassan: Many urban localities and villages in Hassan district are facing an acute drinking water problem. As the groundwater table plummeted in vast areas of Arsikere and Belur taluks, many villages in the taluks are suffering. People carrying water long distances is a common sight in rural areas.

Around 1,000 families of Kenkere village in Arsikere taluk are dependant on one borewell for drinking water. Every morning, hundreds of people stand in long queues before the tap to fetch water. “Right now, we are left with only one borewell. Two other borewells meant for providing drinking water have gone dry,” said Paramesh, Kenkere Gram Panchayat president. There is one potable water unit in the village. It alone requires 5,000 litres a day. “The villagers are demanding that supplying 5,000 litres to the unit should be stopped as a major quantity of water goes waste in the purification process. But, we are running it as we require potable water,” Mr. Paramesh said.

Exploiting the situation, a few are supplying water through tankers. “As there is no other way out, people are purchasing water paying Rs. 2 per pot. We need water for cattle. A cow needs at least three to four pots of water a day,” Mr. Paramesh said.

The situation in parts of Belur is worse. Several families of Narasipura in Rajana Siriyuru Gram Panchayat have not got drinking water supply for over a month due to technical problems. The pipelines connecting the village from Yagachi reservoir are not in good condition. Similarly, in villages of Halebidu GP, the officials are making preparations for supplying water through tankers. “We are consulting the tanker owners for arranging the water supply. But we are finding it difficult to arrange as the district administration has not cleared the bills mounting to over Rs. 24 lakh. If they are not paid for services rendered last year, how can we expect their cooperation this year?” said an officer of the RDPR Department.

In Hassan, water supply from Hemavati reservoir was hit badly owing to problems at the pump house. “People are blaming City Municipal Council members for the failure of the president and his staff in handling technical problems,” said H.M. Suresh Kumar, an independent member of the council. He said shortage of engineers and other staff in the council had aggravated the problem.