<p>Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Monday said as many as 2,498 Reverse Osmosis (RO) drinking water plants in the state were defunct.</p>.<p>Replying to Mahantesh Kavatagimath (BJP) in the Legislative Council, Gowda said numbers were ascertained after a recent survey carried out by a joint task force set up by the department.</p>.<p>The BJP, however, refused to accept the numbers provided by the minister and demanded setting up of a House panel to look into the irregularities in the scheme. Charging that more than 50% of the RO plants were defunct, they said that the scheme was ridden with corruption. </p>.<p>The minister said 11 companies had been levied a penalty of Rs 8.19 crore for performance violation. He assured the House that all the defunct units will be operationalised by July 15.</p>.<p>The government has installed 14,305 RO plants, in addition to commissioning 13,597 units.</p>.<p>Gowda said the government had released Rs 1,300 crore for installing these units, of which Rs 1,115 crore had been spent. Works worth Rs 200 crore are under implementation stage.</p>.<p>But when the Opposition insisted that the government set up a House committee, Gowda said that he would convene a meeting of MLCs elected form local bodies.</p>
<p>Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Monday said as many as 2,498 Reverse Osmosis (RO) drinking water plants in the state were defunct.</p>.<p>Replying to Mahantesh Kavatagimath (BJP) in the Legislative Council, Gowda said numbers were ascertained after a recent survey carried out by a joint task force set up by the department.</p>.<p>The BJP, however, refused to accept the numbers provided by the minister and demanded setting up of a House panel to look into the irregularities in the scheme. Charging that more than 50% of the RO plants were defunct, they said that the scheme was ridden with corruption. </p>.<p>The minister said 11 companies had been levied a penalty of Rs 8.19 crore for performance violation. He assured the House that all the defunct units will be operationalised by July 15.</p>.<p>The government has installed 14,305 RO plants, in addition to commissioning 13,597 units.</p>.<p>Gowda said the government had released Rs 1,300 crore for installing these units, of which Rs 1,115 crore had been spent. Works worth Rs 200 crore are under implementation stage.</p>.<p>But when the Opposition insisted that the government set up a House committee, Gowda said that he would convene a meeting of MLCs elected form local bodies.</p>