Funds approved for 152 villages of Bemetara district
Chief Minister Raman Singh on Wednesday approved Rs 190 crore under the State Government’s ‘Nal-Jal’ scheme for eliminating salinity in water supply being made to nearly 152 villages of Bemetara district from Shivnath River.
The Chief Minister, while chairing a joint meeting of various departments at the Mantralaya here, also reviewed the progress of various Government schemes.
The PHED officials informed in the meeting that the ‘Nal-Jal’ is the biggest scheme in the country formulated to solve the problem of salinity in water supply made to the villages.
Under this scheme, nearly 1.74 lakh people in 57 villages of Bemetara Block, 54 villages of Navagarh and 41 villages of Saja block will be benefitted. Under the scheme, 751 km of pipelines and 139 overhead tanks will be facilitated to ensure the supply of safe drinking water in villages.
Reports reaching here from Bemetara said that the panchayats of the villages have welcomed the announcement of the Chief Minister to have approved Rs 190 crore for eliminating water salinity.
Singh during the meeting took note of the ongoing departmental works of PHED, Agriculture, Water Resources, Cooperatives, Food and Civil Supply, Revenue and Health Department.
He directed the officials concerned to initiate the construction works under the scheme as soon as possible and complete the same within one and half year duration.
While reviewing the works of Agriculture Department, the Chief Minister took information about the sowing process of crops, distribution of seeds-fertilizers etc in the State. Singh also reviewed the action plan for upcoming Rabi season programme 2014-15.
The officials informed the Chief Minister that from June 1 uptill now , average rainfall of 900 mm has been recorded in the State. They also informed that 23 out of 27 districts of the state have had more than 80 per cent rainfall.
In remaining districts namely Surguja, Dantewada and Bastar (Jagdalpur) average rainfall of 60 to 80 per cent and in Jashpur district 40-60 per cent have been recorded. 100 per cent sowing work of paddy and nearly 98 per cent of the sowing work of pulses and vegetables have been completed.
The Chief Minister told officials that in the places where additional supply of water is required, the collectors of the concerned areas should form District Water Usage Committee and facilitate water supply for farmers.
Singh also reviewed the water-level of irrigation reservoirs. The Water Resource Department officials informed in the meeting that after many years, water level in Hasdeo Dam has reached the mark of 90-95 per cent. Moreover, Ravishankar Sagar (Gangrel Dam) is also being utilised to supply water to farmers in this season as per their requirement.
The Chief Minister in the meeting also reviewed the scheme of interest-free agriculture loans for farmers and expressed satisfaction saying that this year during Kharif season cooperative societies of state have distributed the short-term agricultural loans worth Rs 2,249 crore against the target of Rs 2,450 crore.
Officials further informed in the meeting that from September 1 onwards, farmers of all the districts are being provided the computerised copies of land records, B-1 and maps. The computerisation of land records and related documents has been completed nearly 96 per cent and almost 80 per cent of the maps have been uploaded to computers.
While reviewing the works of Health Department, the Chief Minister directed the officials to take effective measures for prevention of diseases like dengue, malaria and dysentery.
Officials have also been directed to pay special attention towards cleaning work in cities. All the Government hospitals of both urban and rural areas of the State should be kept open and health check-up camps should be organised in wards and villages in association with District Administration, Gram Panchayat and urban bodies.
In the meeting, Chief Secretary Vivek Dhand, Additional Chief Secretary and Agriculture Production Commissioner Ajay Singh, Food Civil Supplies and Health Department, Principal Secretary Dr Alok Shukla, PHED Secretary Ganesh Shankar Mishra, Revenue Secretary KR Pisda, Urban Development Director Dr Rohit Yadav, Director Health Services Dr Kamalpreet Singh and senior officials of other departments concerned were also present.