The State Government has reserved around 10 lakh litres of diesel and petrol in the petrol pumps of Bastar division to maintain operation of drinking water pumps during summer months, officials stated.
This apart, about 35 rig machines are stationed along with officers in Bastar region. This is the first time so many machines have been sent to the Bastar region. The State Government also has ordered the district administration of the entire State to provide drinking water to all the citizens in public places keeping in view the summer season ahead.
The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) officers had been ordered to repair all the hand pumps in urban and rural areas and ‘Nal-Jal’ scheme to be implemented strictly. The officers have been instructed to clean all the drinking water tanks. District collectors have been ordered to convene a meeting of the local bodies representatives and Public Health Engineering Department officers and take stock of the situation on drinking water arrangements for summer season.
Secretary of the Department, Ganesh Shankar Mishra said that there are about 8038 habitats in the far-flung remote areas which should be provided with drinking water. The hand-pumps should be installed and in working condition. The campaign will be carried on till March 31. There are few hand-pumps in the areas.
About 50 per cent of these are in Bastar Revenue Division. In December last year, seriously considering the problem of water salinity in 98 villages of Bemetara district, Chief Minister Raman Singh has approved two projects worth `101.47 crores for supplying safe water in the villages. In September this year, the Chief Minister had approved `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 PHED officials informed in a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister that the ‘Nal-Jal’ scheme is the biggest in the country formulated to solve the problem of salinity in water supply made to the villages.
Moreover, the State Government’s Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) have established as many as 227 ‘fluoride prevention plants’ to ensure supply of safe drinking water in fluoride-affected regions of Chhattisgarh. PHED officials informed here that the Government has established 26 district-level laboratories in the State for checking fluoride content in ground water sources.
In three years, as many as 56,388 samples collected from groundwater resources across the State have been examined in these laboratories. Out of these, 328 samples were found high in fluoride content. The Government spent more than `5.62 crore during 2012-13 for implementation of various schemes formulated for ensuring safe drinking water to the people living in fluoride affected areas.
The number of samples tested for fluoride content in each of the district-level laboratories established in 26 districts of the State last year were as follows— 7541 in Jashpur district, 5495 in Ambikapur district, 5102 in Sukma district, 4292 in Durg district, 3754 in Rajnandgaon district, 3386 in Raipur district, 3365 in Narayanpur district, 3253 in Kabeerdham district, 2711 in Korba district, 2431 in Dhamtari district, 2258 in Bilaspur district, 1876 in Bijapur district, 1788 in Koriya district, 1731 in Dantewada district, 1466 in Kanker district, 1387 in Raigarh district, 1079 in Bastar district, 922 in Janjgir Champa district, 547 in Balrampur-Ramanujganj district, 500 in Gariaband district, 420 Bemetara district, 388 in Mahasamund district, 373 in Mungeli district, 183 in Balod district and 144 in Surajpur district.