₹ 1 crore per constituency to address drinking water issues, says CM

Chief Minister DK Shivakumar | Photo credit: ANI

“The state government will release ₹1 crore per assembly constituency for immediate commencement of drinking water supply works,” Chief Minister DK Shivakumar said in Belagavi on Thursday.

He told reporters that this would be in addition to the money in the personal deposit accounts of deputy commissioners in each district. He clarified that these funds will be earmarked for rural areas and the shortage of drinking water in urban areas will be addressed later.

“Most parts of the state, barring a few districts of Kittur Karnataka, are facing drought-like conditions. Among the drought relief measures, drinking water supply has the highest priority. We will take all steps to ensure that no town or village suffers from shortage of drinking water,” he said.

He said some MLAs had complained to him that at about 40 places, forest officials had protested against laying pipelines in forest areas for drinking water projects.

“I have directed forest department officials not to interfere with the installation of underground pipelines for drinking water supply projects. Forest officials will also be asked to speed up the clearing of water supplies to schools and other vital facilities,” he said.

He said he directed the foresters not to displace the forest dwellers and that their requests for regularization of unauthorized land cultivation should not be rejected or ignored.

“The misappropriation of funds to the Ayodhya Sri Ram temple is a warning to all of us. To make sure that such incidents do not take place in the state, we are taking certain steps. We will install CCTVs at all strategic locations in all temples under the endowment department. The CCTV feed will be sent to the police department and the deputy commissioner’s office in the temple. Senior officers will monitor the temple’s activities.

“Some MLAs are demanding cloud planting in drought-hit areas. A decision will be taken after discussing the issue with officials and experts,” he said.

Mr. Shivakumar said that Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana have jointly agreed to the project of linking the Krishna, Cauvery and Godavari rivers.

“It is a historic decision. We have conveyed our consent to the Union government,” he said.

Published – 9 Jul 2026 20:23 IST