Govt to provide water purification units in villages across state

[email protected] (CD Network, Photos by Suresh Vamanjoor)

September 16, 2013

Mangalore, Sep 16: Taking serious note of the fact that drinking water available to the population dwelling in over 5,000 villages in the State are contaminated by hazardous elements like nitrate, flouride and arsenic, the government at the state is all set to install 1,000 water purification units in villages by end of this fiscal year.

Speaking about the same Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj H K Patil on Monday said that the project named as 'Any Time Water' has been implemented in Gadag successfully by two NGOs, where one litre pure drinking water is being provided to people at 10 paisa.

Phases

The ambitious project of catering to the drinking water demands of rural population will be implemented in phases and the said 1,000 purification units will be installed in a year. The villages for the implementation of the project will be selected on priority basis.

"The units will be set up by the Gram Panchayat at an estimated cost of Rs 10 lakh per unit, in case of building a new structure. The cost will come down to Rs 5 lakh if the unit is installed in existing building. Tenders have been floated for setting up of the units. The water will be provided to the consumers at Rs 1 per litre," he said.

Other programmes

The government has envisaged a 15 point programme. Water purification programme being one of the programmes in the list, toilets to every house, roads in rural areas, building open air theatre, opening computer centres in backward community colonies, workshops for skilled labourers etc are some of the other programmes.

Rejuvenation of lakes

The department plans to take up rejuvenation of 12,000 lakes under the 15 point programmes. The Minister said that there are 18,000 dried lakes in the State, of which 12,000 lakes would be rejuvenated. The Government intends to rejuvenate at least 6,000 lakes this year.

GP electricity bills

To a query on the issue of exorbitant pending electricity bills of panchayats state-wide, the Minister said that the RDPR has proposed to form a committee comprising of ESCOM, KPTCL and panchayat raj officials, to assess the due amount. The RDPR does not agree with the statistics on pending bills placed by the ESCOMs, he said.

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Mangaluru NRI returning from Saudi Arabia arrested over Instagram post

News Network

December 15,2025

Mangaluru police have arrested a 27-year-old NRI on his return from Saudi Arabia in connection with an Instagram post allegedly containing derogatory and provocative remarks about the Hindu religion, officials said on Monday.

The accused, Abdul Khader Nehad, a resident of Ulaibettu in Mangaluru, was working in Saudi Arabia when the post was uploaded, police said.

A suo motu case was registered at the Bajpe police station on October 11 after an allegedly offensive post circulated from the Instagram account ‘team_sdpi_2025’. Police said the content was flagged for being provocative and derogatory in nature.

During the investigation, technical analysis traced the Instagram post to Nehad, who was residing abroad at the time, a senior police officer said. Based on these findings, a Look Out Circular (LOC) was issued against him.

On December 14, Nehad arrived from Saudi Arabia at Calicut International Airport in Kerala, where he was taken into custody on arrival. Police said further investigation is underway.

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Air India Express brings back Mangaluru–Muscat direct flights from March 2026

News Network

December 15,2025

Mangaluru, Dec 15: Air India Express has announced that it will resume direct flight services between Mangaluru and Muscat from March 2026, restoring an important international air link for passengers from the coastal region.

Airport authorities said the service will operate twice a week—on Sundays and Tuesdays—from March 1. The initial flights are scheduled on March 3, 8 and 10, followed by March 15 and 17, with the same operating pattern to continue thereafter. The flight duration is approximately three hours and 25 minutes.

The Mangaluru–Muscat route was earlier operated under the 2025 summer schedule, with services beginning on July 14. At that time, Air India Express had operated four flights a week before suspending the service.

Officials said the summer schedule will come into effect from March 29, after which changes in flight timings and departure schedules from Mangaluru are expected. Passengers have been advised to check the latest schedules while planning their travel.

The resumption of direct flights to Muscat is expected to significantly benefit expatriates, business travellers and others, further strengthening Mangaluru’s air connectivity with the Gulf region.

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