Chandigarh, April 30: Punjab Chief Minister CaptainAmarinder Singh while reviewing the functioning of Water Supply Departmenttoday directed it to complete the ongoing 10 large surface water projectscovering 1021 quality affected and enroute villages in Patiala, FatehgarhSahib, Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran and Amritsar positively by December 2022 with aninvestment of Rs. 1032 crore.
Meanwhile, Minister for Water Supply and Sanitation MinisterRazia Sultana apprised the Chief Minister that in addition to these 10 largesurface water projects, the State Government has also approved 5 large surfacewater projects in 701 quality affected villages of District Ferozepur (95),Fazilka (342) and waters scarcity villages of District Hoshiarpur (197) &Ropar (67) with an investment of Rs. 1068 crore. These works would be procuredby June, 2021 and commenced accordingly.
The Chief Minister also ordered the Department to providepotable water in 918 quality affected villages of State immediately throughCommunity Water Purification Plants (CWPPs), Arsenic and Iron Removal Plants(AIRPs) & household purifiers which were commenced in 2020-21 with aninvestment of Rs.135 crore. Captain Amarinder Singh also directed the WaterSupply & Sanitation Department to ensure meticulous monitoring of theongoing projects for their timely completion and quality control.
Razia informed the Chief Minister that all these watertreatment plants would be made functional by September 30, 2021.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister was apprised ofvarious expansion initiatives of the department including upgradation of 31water testing labs (State/Multi district/Sub unit labs) with new buildings andmodern equipment at a cost of Rs. 14 crore in order to strengthen the existinginfrastructure for water quality testing in the State.
Taking part in deliberations, the Principal Secretary WaterSupply and Sanitation Mrs Jaspreet Talwar apprised the Chief Minister that theDepartment proposes to get NABL accreditation of all these labs by October2021.
The department by December 2021 would also complete 230ongoing ground/surface based piped water supply schemes under World Bank/NABARDprogrammes apart from providing sewerage facilities in Bahadurgarh (10villages), water supply and sewerage facilities in village Ghuman (associatedwith Bhagat Namdev Ji), and Budha Theh in Beas. Further, the work forupgradation of water supply scheme in Faridkot would be taken up with an investment of Rs. 8 crore andaugmentation work of sewerage in Sri Anandpur Sahib town at a cost of Rs.7.73 crore in May 2021.
It was also brought to the notice of the Chief Minister thatthe department will by June 2021 launch ‘JAL SEVA APP’ in order to enable thegeneral public to monitor the performance of service delivery and status ofrural water supply schemes in their areas.
During 2020-21, the Department spent Rs. 206 crore in ruralsanitation for constructing Individual Household Laterines (IHHL), communitysanitary complexes, Solid and liquid waste management. Additionally, thedepartment also proposes to utilize Rs. 341 crore for various activities underSwachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) programme in 2021-22 including IHHLs, CommunitySanitary Complexes, Plastic Waste Management Units, Bio-gas plants as well asfaecal sludge management.
Notably, the department was able to settle outstandingelectricity bills of DWSS run rural water supply schemes with PSPCL through agovernment grant of Rs 305 crore.