Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma on Wednesday directed the Drinking Water Department officers to be ready in advance to confront drinking water crisis and said that all tube wells should be repaired by April 30 and 16,000 new hand pumps should be installed along with HYDT. She was reviewing the drinking water & sanitation department in the light of water crisis in the state.
The CS said that drinking water should be provided to all urban and rural areas. She said that the repairable dysfunctional hand pumps should be repaired and the municipal bodies which have not started the tender process should complete it at the earliest and map the hard-hit drought areas. She said that the areas where water is not available or underground water is at considerable depth, water should be supplied through tanker.
She directed the UDD to establish control room on district and state level and appoint a master trainer to train people on panchayat level. It should be noted that control room are being run already by the drinking water & sanitation department.
It was decided in the meeting that apart from 16,000 new tube wells, 303 HYDT and 100 mini HYDT will be installed in the state to meet the demand of water.
Principal Secretary, Drinking Water & Sanitation Department AP Singh said that about 1,000 tube wells in the state are being repaired every day through a special drive. A technical expert and a vehicle have been provided in every block. Presently 28,000 tube wells await riser pipe change and 14,000 tube wells will start working with slight repair and are expected to be in proper order by April. Rs167.49cr has been allotted by the department to all the districts for the purpose and Rs32 cr for casual expenses. 26 per cent rural areas will be covered under rural water supply scheme.
Principal Secretary, UDD Arun Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary, Drinking Water & Sanitation Dept. A.P. Singh, Town Commissioner, Ranchi, Prashant Kumar and PHED engineers from the districts were present in the meeting.