No innocent person held over Hubballi violence: Karnataka CM Bommai
Bengaluru/Sringeri (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday dismissed the allegations that innocent people are being held in connection with the Hubballi violence and said arrests were made based on evidence.
"No innocent person has been arrested. Based on evidences, people have been arrested," Bommai told reporters at Menase helipad in the temple town of Sringeri.
The Chief Minister said no one involved in the violence will be spared and the government will ensure that they are punished.
"Those who take law into their hands will face action. Attacking a police station is an unpardonable act," Bommai said.
He was replying to a query on opposition parties' apprehensions that innocent people are being framed in the Hubballi incident.
Regarding the Congress party's allegation that there was Ravana Rajya' instead of Rama Rajya', Bommai said what common people say is important and not the opposition parties.
"We cannot expect anything better from the opposition," the Chief Minister said.
A large number of Muslim people on Saturday midnight went on a rampage over a social media post showing a saffron flag placed on a mosque in the Old Town of Hubballi.
Police have so far arrested 89 people while four persons named in the FIR are still at large. The 89 people appeared before court via video-conference on Monday.
Regarding civil contractor Santosh Patil's suicide case, Bommai said the investigation is going on and he did not wish to comment on it regularly.
Bommai refuted the charge that he was not taking strong decisions and said he has ordered a detailed probe in the contractor's death case, Hubballi violence and the irregularities in sub-inspector recruitment tests.
Senior BJP MLA K S Eshwarappa resigned last Thursday as Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister after Patil allegedly died by suicide in an Udupi hotel accusing the minister of demanding 40 per cent commission on a public work in Hindalga village of Belagavi district last year.
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K’taka to launch special drive for drinking water tests in gram panchayats amid rising temperatures
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Bengaluru: As summer intensifies across Karnataka, the state government is preparing to initiate a special campaign to test drinking water across the state.
A directive is expected to be issued to all chief executive officers of zilla panchayats, instructing gram panchayats within their jurisdictions to conduct water quality tests, as reported by The New Indian Express on Thursday.
Karnataka has around 6,000 gram panchayats and their staff have been trained to conduct field tests. They check the water quality for 12 parameters, including potential of hydrogen (PH), chloride, fluoride, iron, nitrate, alkalinity, residual chlorine, and total dissolved solids. The hydrogen sulfide test is also conducted to check the presence of bacteria.
The testing has been made mandatory after several drinking water contamination cases have been reported over the years across the state, added the report.
Anjum Parvez, Additional Chief Secretary for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, said that water quality testing is routinely mandated twice a year—once before and once after the monsoon season.
“During pre-monsoon, groundwater level goes down and the quality of water has to be checked. Post monsoon, the flow of water is more, and the threat of contamination is not high, but even then water is tested. Potable drinking water is our priority,’’ TNIE report quoted Parvez as saying.
He also noted that panchayat development officers and engineers regularly inspect water supply pipelines for leakages.
The state government has taken disciplinary action in past cases involving supply of contaminated water and is now conducting special campaigns to prevent such incidents.
