Taking steps to ensure adequate drinking water supply: Puducherry CM

Puducherry: Chief Minister N Rangasamy told the Assembly on Tuesday that the government had taken steps to ensure adequate and potable drinking water across the union territory. Intervening in the debate on the motion of thanks to the Lieutenant governor’s address, Rangasamy said the administration had initiated measures, particularly in urban areas, to ensure a regular supply of drinking water amid complaints from some areas about brackish water.

Rangasamy said the government had proposed a seawater desalination project and was considering drilling deep borewells, up to 1,700 feet, in rural areas such as Pandasozhanallur and Sivaranthagam.

He said farmers had opposed the proposal, expressing concern that deep borewells could affect groundwater needed for irrigation. “We are implementing the scheme in consultation with hydrological experts, and hence nothing would happen to the farm sector,” he assured.

Members participating in the debate expressed concern over the declining quality of water available to residents and urged the government to take necessary steps to address their grievances.

Newly elected members participated in the debate and sought an assurance from the CM on ensuring adequate drinking water supply. Ashok Kumar, an independent member elected from the lone constituency in the Mahe region, an enclave of Puducherry in Kerala, urged the government to hold civic elections.

“The revival of democracy at the grassroots level is long overdue,” he said, seeking steps to conduct the civic polls at the earliest. Ashok Kumar, an advocate, also sought the establishment of a bench of the Madras High Court in Puducherry to spare litigants in the union territory the need to travel to Chennai.

Dr V Vigneswaran, an Independent member from Neduncadu constituency in Karaikal, sought the establishment of a recruitment board to appoint medical officers in Karaikal. He highlighted the shortage of ambulances at the Government General Hospital in Karaikal.

He said a woman had died after she could not be transported from Karaikal to Puducherry for specialised treatment and urged the government to pay a solatium of Rs 10 lakh to her family.

Vignesh Kannan of the DMK said the building housing the General Hospital in Puducherry was in a dilapidated condition and urged the government to take steps to repair it. V Karthikeyan of the DMK said stray dogs were a nuisance to residents, particularly at night.

P Karthikeyan of the Congress strongly objected to the delay in electing the Speaker of the Assembly. The debate was inconclusive and will resume on Thursday.