With a view to ensuring safe drinking water supply to people living in the hinterlands of insurgency-hit Bastar region, the State Public Works Department (PWD) installed over 2,000 hand-pumps in all seven district Bastar division, officials informed on Monday.
The special drive was undertaken on the directives of Chief Minister Raman Singh in difficult terrains of Kondagaon, Narayanpur, Bastar, Bijapur, Dantewada and Sukma. Those areas were targetted in the drive were people had partial access to drinking water.
PWD Minister Ramsevak Paikara informed that under the special drive launched in January this year, by end of March, a total of 2,430 hand-pumps were installed. The platform construction in 2,074 hand-pumps was completed.
In Bastar district 765 hand-pumps, in Dantewada 294, in Bijapur 877, in Kondagaon 49, in Narayanpur 30 and in Sukma 59 new hand-pumps have been installed.
During the first nine years of fiscal 2014-15 in all 561 hand-pumps were installed in Bastar region. In this way in one year 2,635 new hand-pumps have been installed in Bastar region, he said.
According to officials’ Rig machines working in different parts of the State were sent to Bastar to achieve the target.
The State Government had deployed 37 Rig machines for digging hand pumps. In addition to it, private contractors were also used to dig hand pumps in great number, officials said.
Officials further informed that during the installation of hand pumps additional pick-up vehicles were assigned with the Rig machine so that immediately after the completion of boring, hand-pumps could be installed and platforms could be constructed.
This apart, Chief Minister Raman Singh had stated recently that the State Government has set a target of providing two lakh domestic tap water connections in the rural pockets of Chhattisgarh during the next one year.
Moreover, in view of the summer season, the Chief Minister had directed all the district collectors and officials of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) to pay special attention to provision of drinking water in all public places in the State.
He said that during the last financial year ( 2014-15), a total of 94,400 domestic tap water connections were provided in the villages through 2,400 ‘Nal-Jal’ schemes.
The Chief Minister said that with the new financial year beginning April 1, a budget provision of `862 crore had been made for ensuring better drinking water facilities in the State.
He said that a provision of `5 crore had been made for implementing community water supply schemes in a total of 19 rural pockets of the State.
During the new financial year, a total of 22 cities have been included in the water supply schemes with a budget provision of `28 crore.
Singh stated that during the last financial year, new hand pumps were installed in 2232 rural settlements and 734 schools.
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.
Moreover, in December last year, while 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 Rs 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.
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.