The Union Home Ministry in association with the Ministry of the Drinking Water and Sanitation is going to implement an ambitious project for providing piped drinking water to soldiers at all the border outposts. The project which covers from Pakistan borders to icy heights of Himalyas to remote North East to provide potable water to men on duty is expected to cost `6000 crore.
While the MHA will provide the funds, the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) will offer technical assistance and the State Governments will implement it in their areas through their respective agencies. Under the project, the piped drinking water will be provided to Border Out Posts (BOPs) along Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Bhutan, Nepal and Myanmar.
These borders are guarded by forces like the Border Security Force, the Indo Tibetan Border Police and the Sashastra Seema Bal.
The BOPs being guarded by the ITBP are located at altitudes ranging from 9,000 feet to 18,700 feet.
Personnel posted in inhospitable terrain are dependent on natural or local sources like springs, borewells or water tankers, a home ministry official said.
Carrying water is difficult in remote and inhospitable areas, so in some places, local unit commandants are authorised to hire porters to carry it from nearby sources to the outposts.
Senior officials of the MHA, the MDWS and from some of the states, which share international borders, have discussed the plan threadbare and are working for its proper implementation, the official said.
The BOPs are located in forward areas in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.