The Education and Drinking Water Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani has directed the officials of drinking water department to undertake a campaign to disconnect illegal drinking water connections in the State.
The Minister said this while undertaking a review meeting with the officials of the department on Monday. He said that the department should focus on collection of dues and the figures of these collections would be considered for entry in their annual performance records.
In the meeting, the minister directed the officials to increase the stipend of the part time chowkidars working in the drinking water projects of the state. He also said that the proposal to merge the part time chowkidars into the structure of the department should be prepared. He asked the Secretary drinking water to release remaining amount of budget of the schemes where 75 percent work is complete. Naithani said that executive agencies of these schemes should provide Utilisation Certificates (UC) without delay so that the benefits of the schemes are availed by the general public.
The minister reviewed the progress of Silkakhal, Anwalaghat, Kosi Barrage, Danda Nagraja, Nainidanda and Bhairavgadhi drinking water projects. He directed the officials to prepare proposals for installation of hand pumps in the mountainous areas under Tribal Sub Plan (TSP) and Special Component Plan (SCP).
The Chief General Manager of Jal Sansthan S K Gupta informed the minister that the department had put up a demand of Rs 52.36 Crore for drinking water projects damaged in the disaster but the department has received very less budget by the government. The Minister expressed concern on the information and held telephonic discussion with the Chief Secretary for increasing budget for these schemes. The minister also reviewed the progress of the construction works undertaken by the construction wing of Uttarakhand Peyjal Nigam.
The meeting was attended by Director Swajal Ashish Joshi, CGM Jal Sansthan SK Gupta, Chief Engineer Jal Nigam Prabhat Raj, GM SC Jain and others.