Here are the big stories from Karnataka today

Karnataka Today newsletter: BWSSB invites bids for Cauvery VI stage DPR, and more

As work on Cauvery V stage is nearing completion, Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB) has called for bids to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for Cauvery VI stage, which will supply water to towns around Bengaluru apart from a few pockets on the outskirts of the city.

The VI stage will utilise around 6 tmcft of Cauvery river water annually, taking up the total utilisation by Bengaluru and surrounding areas to around 35 tmcft annually. BWSSB has mooted the VI stage project following a recent order by the Karnataka government to fully utilise water allotted for drinking in the Cauvery award.

A report submitted by an expert committee on the electrocution of a 23-year-old woman and her baby in November at Hope Farm junction in Bengaluru, has highlighted that the quality of construction by Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) has come down due to the lack of awareness about existing standards and practices. 

The expert committee mentioned a lack of strict checks at the time of commissioning infrastructure. Directing that standards and practices should be strictly followed, the committee has also recommended that specifications for procurement of distribution equipment be upgraded. 

A court in Mangaluru has admitted a private compliant by BJP leader Vikas Puttur against the Congress MP from Bengaluru Rural D.K. Suresh for his ‘separate nation’ statement. The court has posted the case for further hearing on February 12. Mr. Puttur is a former national secretary of BJP Yuva Morcha, and the social media in-charge for Karnataka.

In a complaint filed on February 3, Mr. Puttur said he was approaching the court as the Mangaluru North police station as well as Mangaluru Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal had failed to register his earlier complaints. He has sought a direction from the court to Mangaluru city police to investigate the complaint against Mr. Suresh under Section 124 (A) (sedition) of the IPC.

Residents of Ballupete, Kalkunda, Irukuhalli and neighbouring villages in Sakleshpur taluk of Hassan district, have been living in fear of a wild tusker that has been roaming their locality for the past two days. The animal attacked two agriculture labourers, leaving them injured, at Lakkunda on February 7.