A total of three insurgency ridden villages of Kanker district will get tap water supply under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme, officials stated. The villages to get tap water connections are Talakurra, Bhaismundi and Abhanpur. The State Government has approved a sum of Rs90.82 lakh for implementation of the programme in the three villages. The approval for the project was provided under the State Government’s action plan for 2014-15.
Early last month, the State Government had provided administrative approval of Rs2.81 crore for implementing tap water supply scheme under National Rural Drinking Water Programme for the current financial year 2014-15 in seven villages of insurgency infested Kondagaon district.
Notably, Chhattisgarh has been ranked first in the country for providing domestic water connection in 2014-15 under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP). This is the State’s second major achievement after bagging first position in the country for installing solar pumps.
The Central Government had given a target of 30,000 water connection for the year 2014-15 under the programme the objective of which is to provide pure drinking water to rural people to protect them from water borne diseases.
The State has provided 88,000 domestic water connections in 10 months of 2014-15 and this is more than 50 percent of total domestic connections provided in the State in past 42 years. In total, the number of domestic connections provided in rural areas has crossed the figure of 2.50 lakh.
It may also be recalled that a Rs2100 crore proposal has also been prepared by Chhattisgarh Government for installation of 300 ‘Water ATMs’ in slum areas of urban bodies of Chhattisgarh. The ‘Water ATM’ will dispense five liters of purified water from RO plant on inserting rupee one coin in the machine, officials said.
Moreover, the Chhattisgarh Government has installed as many as 83 ‘Reverse Osmosis’ (RO) plants in the regions facing problems of salinity in water used for drinking purposes. This apart, there are now 1,252 plants which remove high iron content from drinking water besides 227 plants clearing away high fluoride content from water supplied to the users in various parts of the State, officials stated.
Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) officials informed that the Government has established 26 district-level laboratories in the State for checking fluoride content in ground water sources.
During the last three years, as many as 56,388 samples collected from ground water sources across the state have been examined in the aforesaid laboratories. Out of these, 328 samples were found high in fluoride content.
The Government spent more than Rs5.62 crore during 2012-13 for implementation of various schemes formulated for ensuring safe drinking water to the people living in fluoride affected areas.
In May last year, the State Government has established a total of 105 ‘Flouride Removal Plants’ in settlements of 44 villages in Bastar division.
In September last year, Chief Minister Raman Singh had approved Rs190 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 that under ‘Nal-Jal’ scheme nearly 1.74 lakh people residing in several villages of Bemetara, Navagarh and Saja block will be benefitted. Under the scheme, 751 km of pipelines and 139 overhead tanks will be facilitated to ensure the supply of safe drinking water in villages.
Chief Minister Raman Singh on April 3 this year had stated 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 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’ water supply schemes. The Chief Minister said that the new financial year beginning April 1, a budget provision of Rs862 crore had been made for ensuring better drinking water facilities in the State.
He said that a provision of Rs5 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 Rs28 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.
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.