District panchayat chief says allocated sum insufficient

District panchayat president S. Jayamohan has said that in the backdrop of Kollam being declared drought hit, the State government should make an emergency allocation of Rs.50 crore to solve the district’s drinking water problem. In a statement here on Tuesday, Mr. Jayamohan said the amount was urgently required to meet the expenses for transporting drinking water, pipeline extension, cleaning of freshwater wetlands, compensation to farmers who had suffered crop loss on account of the drought, renovation of the Kallada Irrigation Project (KIP) canals, and repair of pumps owned by the Kerala Water Authority.