The State Government on Thursday issued orders to open drinking water outlets in villages and towns of all the 27 districts to counter the severe heat wave conditions prevailing in the entire State.
The outlets will remain open for the next two months.
It may be mentioned here that Chief Minister Raman Singh in his lok Suraj Mission meeting with top officers on Wednesday had directed officials to open drinking water outlets as early as possible.
In a circular issued by the Panchayat and Rural Development Department Additional Chief Secretary M. K. Raut to all the District Collectors and Chief Executive Officers of panchayats stated that 'Pyahu Ghar' be opened at all public places for the convenience of common citizens.
The Chhattisgarh government has also chalked out an elaborate action plan to tackle drinking water supply problems being encountered in the rain deficient regions of the State.
The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) officials informed that 115 Development Blocks in 117 tehsils had been identified as water stressed habitats. The region covers 134 villages and 60,332 habitats.
For this, the government has prepared an action plan involving a cost of Rs 65.29 crore.
Currently a total of 3230 tap water supply schemes have been approved in the State out of which 2587 have been completed. The Department also installed a total of 8,950 new hand pumps during 2014-15 under the National Rural Drinking Water Mission in the rural pockets of the State.
There were a total of 10,373 tube wells dug up by the Department in the entire State out of which 8,950 wells were declared successful.
Notably, Chhattisgarh ranks first in the country in terms of providing drinking water through solar powered pumps, officials stated.
Out of the total number of solar pumps installed in the entire country in financial year 2013-14, nearly 90 per cent of the solar pumps were installed in Chhattisgarh itself, they claimed.
The drinking water projects have been sanctioned during the fiscal 2009-10 and 2014-15. The projects include installation of 6372 hand-pumps, 91 spot source scheme, 39 Nal-Jal Yojana and one water procurement project.
As many as 27 water supply projects to be taken up across Chhattisgarh under Centre’s AMRUT project would involve an expenditure of Rs 440.95 crore during the current financial year.
The Centre’s funding component in the project would be Rs 212.13 crore while the Chhattisgarh would contribute Rs 137.08 crore with Urban local Bodies (UlBs) share being Rs 91.38 crore, officials stated.
Overall the Mission Thrust areas under AMRUT Project would be — Water supply, Sewerage and Septage Management, Storm Water Drain, Pedestrian, Non Motorised and Public Transport Facilities, Parking Space, Green Spaces, Park and Recreation Centres.
Notably, the Chhattisgarh government has approved Rs 13 crore for 89 developmental works to be undertaken by Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC).
Notably, a sum of Rs 10 crore has been approved by the State government for various wards of RMC including drain construction, road widening, electrification and pipeline extension, according to an official press release
Notably, the Central government had released the first installment of Rs 55.29 crore out of the approved Rs 573.40 crore for State Annual Action Plan (SAAP) under AMRUT project for the current financial year in Chhattisgarh.
The Union Ministry of Urban Development has already released Central Assistance of Rs 1,062.27 crore to 13 States as first installment under AMRUT project for the current financial year, officials stated.
This is a part of total Central Assistance of Rs 5,311.38 crore committed to 13 States for which the Ministry has approved Atal Mission Action Plans for 2015-16 entailing total investment of Rs 11,671.76 cr in 286 cities in these states.
The Ministry has so far cleared a total of 939 projects for 286 cities with most of them related to water supply and sewerage network services.
AMRUT project launched in June last year aims at ensuring water supply connections and sewer connections to all urban households in 500 mission cities besides supplying water at the norm of 135 litres per capita per day, on priority. Under this mission, construction of storm water drains, promotion of non-motorised urban transport, provision of parks and green spaces also will be supported.
The purpose of AMRUT is to ensure that every household has access to a tap with assured supply of water and a sewerage connection, increase in amenity value of cities by developing greenery and well maintained open spaces (parks) and reduce pollution by switching to public transport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport (like walking and cycling).
Districts identified for AMRUT mission are-- Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Bhilai, Rajnandgaon, Korba, Raigarh, Ambikapur and Jagdalpur, said official sources.
The State Urban Administration and Development Department will soon take up the integrated solid waste management project planned for the city.
The project would be taken up and operated under Public Private Partnership (PPP) model on Design, Build , Finance, Operate and Transfer basis, officials stated.