Water crisis: Karnataka ex-minister faces villagers' wrath

Hubballi: Enraged over the severe scarcity of drinking water, people of Savalagi hobli in Jamkhandi taluk of Bagalkot district were involved in a verbal clash with local legislator and former Union minister Siddu Nyamagouda.

Tempers ran high when the Congress leader tried to downplay the water scarcity and maintained that there is no such problem as borewells have been drilled. The people told him that  all borewells drilled by the district administration have failed as the underground water table has receded considerably.

Even the Krishna river flowing through the village has totally dried up. There was tension for a while when supporters of the legislator entered into an argument with the villagers. Savalagi has a 15,000 strong population and half of them live in their farms while the remaining people stay in the hobli.

The people living in the hobli are forced to carry water from borewells in the farms to their homes by traveling around 4 km. They claimed that they cannot fetch water from far-off places as most of them are daily wage workers and have to focus on earning a livelihood.

They demanded at least 10 water tankers every day to meet drinking water needs. The people withdrew their protest after Tahasildar A.I. Adade promised to drill borewells and supply water in tankers by visiting the hobli.