DC Priyanka Mary Warns of Criminal Case against Landlords for Open Borewells
Udupi: The recent incident of a six-year-old falling into a 40-ft.-deep open borewell near Belagavi seems to have been a wake-up call to the authorities in the district. Deputy commissioner Priyanka Mary Francis has ordered the immediate closure of borewells which are not in use in the district and also warned that criminal case will be registered against the owners if any unused borewells that are found open.
She was speaking at the monthly KDP meeting of the Zilla Panchayat chaired by Dinakar Babu president of ZP. DC Priyanka exercising her powers under Section 133 of the Karnataka Criminal Procedure Code, directed all the panchayat development officers in the gram panchayats to identify the unused borewells and take steps to seal them. The state government has asked a report on the unused borewells in the district. The PDO’s should identify such borewells in the gram Panchayat limits and send the report immediately. It is mandatory for those digging borewells to take permission from the local authorities to ensure regulation of borewells and their location. It is the responsibility of landlords and contractors to seal unused borewells, she added.
The deputy commissioner also instructed the taluk Panchayat executive officers and health department to submit a report of the eight clean drinking water units. She also said that it is mandatory for all its departments to procure goods and services through GeM (the government e-marketplace.
Sheela K Shetty vice president ZP, Babu Shetty, Shashikanth Shetty, Uday S Kotian standing committee presidents, Nagesh Raikar deputy secretary ZP and Shrinivas Rao chief project officer were present.