Jaipur: Chief minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday directed officials to speed up hand pump and tubewell repairs. The chief minister, while reviewing drinking water situation in the state, asked the officials to prepare an action plan to reduce the gap in drinking water supply in areas where there is an interval of more than 48 hours. He said people should get drinking water at least once in 48 hours.
He said the need for water will increase in summer and in such a situation uninterrupted supply was the priority of the state government.
Gehlot said approval of hand pumps and tube wells be issued wherever required and repairs should be completed on time. Along with water conservation, emphasis should also be given on water harvesting.
The chief minister said a large number of workers were unemployed during the lockdown. In such projects, the possibilities of employing them under NREGA should be explored in projects under the Public Health Engineering Department, Water Resources and Energy Department.
The CM directed to hold weekly review meeting at the level of district collector and principal secretary of PHED and monthly at the state-level by the chief secretary. He asked for timely disposal of complaints related to drinking water. He also directed to restore power supply by repairing the power lines which have been damaged due to the recent storm.
PHED minister B D Kalla apprised the meeting of the steps taken to ease water shortage.
Principal secretary, PHED, Rajesh Yadav said the works of installing new tube wells, damaged pipelines and replacement of faulty pumpsets are being done on the recommendation of the district collectors. He informed the meeting that for the Prithviraj Nagar Yojana in Jaipur city, approval of Rs 295.50 crore has been issued in the month of March. Over two lakh people will be benefited from this scheme.
Principal secretary, water resources, Naveen Mahajan said for the first time in 70 years, Punjab has completed the renovation work of canals of 20km area of Sirhind Feeder. The renovation work was started on this feeder in the Rajasthan region as well, but due to the lockdown, the work could not be completed.
Review meet by district ministers on May 9
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has directed all ministers in-charge of the districts to hold review meetings on the Covid-19 situation in their respective districts through video conference. The ministers would discuss with the district collectors, SPs and other district-level officials on the strategy to be adopted on completion of the third phase of lockdown, contingency plan for drinking water and employment of maximum number of workers under MGNREGS and other issues.
By TNN|May 8, 2020
