Srinagar, May 19: Chief Secretary Arun Kumar Mehta on Friday recommended that the practise of charging people yearly for water consumption be discontinued and that the same amount be divided into monthly bills so that customers find it easier and less laborious.
In a statement issued here, an official spokesman said that after interacting with officials of the Jal Shakti Department (JSD) and the public following a virtual tour of works undertaken under the central flagship programme Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) for their early completion across J&K, the chief secretary stressed the importance of switching to digital mode of payments for the convenience of customers.
He inquired about the mission’s progress and instructed the officers to fulfil all deadlines.
Mehta also advised them to expedite the bidding of remaining works so that they may be started and finished on time.
He also spoke with villagers and representatives of Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRI) on the quality and speed of work at each location.
The chief secretary instructed that approvals for installing pipe networks across forests be granted as soon as possible while protecting the environment.
He requested that such concerns be monitored at the highest level possible so that no work is delayed due to a lack of attention.
Mehta urged them to include PaniSamities members at every stage so that they get used to the nitty-gritty of administering similar initiatives effectively in the future as per the mission’s purpose.
He admonished the authorities to evaluate the works, as well as a bigger role for public representatives and Paani Samities in monitoring the development of different projects.
The chief secretary directed the officials to analyse the sustainability of each water supply scheme’s source.
He also asked them to guarantee that people had an appropriate supply of drinkable water.
Mehta urged them to get NABL accreditation for every water-testing facility in order to obtain third-party confirmation of quality criteria.
He said that the Jal Jeevan Mission is now being executed in the early years of the ‘Amrit Kaal’ era, which is encouraging and one of the requirements for the ‘Viksit J&K’ attempt.
According to the chief secretary, after this mission is completed, every family would have a functioning tap water connection, which reflects a goal of the ‘Viksit Bharat Abhiyan’ towards empowering people at the grassroots level.
ShaleenKabra, Principal Secretary, briefed the Chief Secretary that the mission had begun in 2019 and had made significant progress to far.
He said that, of the 18,67,803 rural families served, 11,36,497 have received Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) to date.
Mehta said that the JJM supplied a total of 77,008 FHTCs from December 2022 to May 2023.
He said that since most of the benchmarks will be met by September of this year, every remaining rural family may get a tap water connection under this programme.
The chief secretary provided a comprehensive review of the mission’s goals, processes, progress, and next steps in order to bring the mission to a logical end within the time frame specified.
During the conference, it was also reported that of the 6714 works, 5403 (81 percent) had been assigned to date.
It was also disclosed that 3358 works were now underway in J&K, with 532 finished.
Water Supply Schemes in Issoo (Anantnag), Heng (Baramulla), Akhnoor (Jammu), Banderpora (Pulwama), Vijhara (Bandipora), Gulgam, Tangwari (Kupwara), Chowki (Rajouri), Sangaldan (Ramban), Jawalapur (Kishtwar), and Seal (Doda) received virtual assessments from the Chief Secretary.
Principal Secretary Jal Shakti Department; Mission Director JJM; Deputy Commissioners; Special Secretary Jal Shakti Department; Director Finance Jal Shakti Department; Chief Engineers; Superintending Engineers; and other Jal Shakti Department officers were physically or virtually present at the meeting.
