Haryana State Flood Control Board on Wednesday approved 107 new schemes worth Rs 129 crore for strengthening the flood control system in the State.
Chief Minister Manohar lal Khattar presided over the 47th meeting of Haryana State Flood Control Board and said that it was for the time in the history of Haryana that the meeting of the Board has been convened in the month of January to making preparations well in advance to deal with any eventuality and for rain water harvesting.
All the Deputy Commissioners attended the meeting through video conferencing. Khattar assured that all these schemes would be completed well before the onset of monsoon season in the month of July. The Board has also approved Rs 256 crore for 140 ongoing schemes. He said that earlier, this meeting used to be held in the month of March and sometimes as late as May as a result of which most of the flood control schemes remain incomplete. “Now, we would not only ensure the timely completion of flood control measures but the quality of works would also be ensured, said Khattar.
He said that a 3-member committee would be constituted to monitor various flood control measures on day-to-day basis in the State to ensure their effective and efficient timely completion. The Committee would review the progress of all flood control works with DCs in the month of May. All these works should be videographed so as ensure transparency, he added. Directing the Deputy Commissioners to take up all these works on priority basis, the Chief Minister said that he would convene a meeting of all DCs preferably in the first week of June to see for himself, the status of work approved in their respective districts. In case of non- completion of work by then, the concerned Deputy Commissioner has to give a valid reason for the same, he added.
He described the water as lifeline and said that mismanagement and misuse of water is dangerous. He also directed the DCs to ensure optimum utilization of water. Expressing concern over few areas that usually got submerged during the monsoon season, the Chief Minister directed to prepare a comprehensive plan for such chronic areas so that the farmer’s crop might not be affected.
Taking a serious view of complaints regarding power cuts on lift irrigation projects in district Jhajjar and Rewari, he asked the Deputy Commissioners of both the districts to ensure uninterrupted power supply on these projects. Both the DCs would take up this matter with the Power Department so as to ensure that there are no power cuts and water is supplied regularly, he asserted. Four new works of Public Health Engineering Department worth of Rs 10.39 crore were also approved in the meeting.
During the meeting, it was informed that directions have been issued to all Deputy Commissioners in the state to ensure that payment is only made after receiving 80 per cent of the material. It was also informed that all the defected drainage pumps would be got repaired before June 30, 2016. Apart from this, there is a requirement for 130 additional new pumps for which tenders would soon be opened.