Toll free number set up for water complaints

The State Government has posed Rs. 4751 crore project for funding to the Government of India for Rain Water Harvesting in the State. This was disclosed by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while presiding over the Review Meeting of Irrigation and Public Health department here today.

Chief Minister said that being a hilly State, the rain water flows downstream unused. He said that the State Government was contemplating to check this wastage of water by building rain water harvesting structures for effective water conservation.

Jai Ram Thakur said the State Government has also sent another proposal of Rs. 798 crore for central funding for remodeling and augmentation of 1421 water supply schemes in the State to ensure adequate supply to the people of the State.

He said that due to the drought like condition in the State, it becomes duty of the Department to ensure that there was no scarcity of water to the people. He said that special steps should be taken to check leakages in the pipe lines. He said that tourist season was on the peak and efforts should be made to ensure there was no inconvenience to the people and the tourists visiting the State. He said that adequate arrangements should be made in advance to meet out any eventuality due to the prolonged dry spell.

Jai Ram Thakur said that it becomes duty of the IPH department to ensure proper supply of drinking water. He said that almost no snowfall during the winter season in the State has adversely affected the water sources. He said that efforts should be made for adopting alternative arrangement in water scarcity areas. He said that efforts should also be made for installation of hand pumps in drought prone areas.

The Chief Minister said that services of tankers should be pressed into service for supply of water. He said that regular monitoring of water supply schemes must be made for ensuring smooth water supply. He said that pumps and other equipment in the pumping stations should be maintained properly.

He asked the officers to prepare maximum number of DPRs so that they could be posed for external funding. He said that priority should be given to those projects which are nearing completion so that people could be benefitted from these projects. He said that maximum use of technology must be ensured for bringing efficiency in the department.

Toll free number for water complaints

The Chief Minister said that toll free number 18001808009 has been established in the department for any complaint regarding water supply. He said that a mobile app for complaint redressal and geo-tagging was also being developed to redress the complaints of the consumers.

He said that upgradation of existing projects must be done and there should be no compromise in quality. He said that special campaign should be launched to spread awareness regarding judicious use of water. He said that a mechanism should be developed for effective rain water harvesting in the State. He said that this would not only ensure water conservation but also save the water to be used during dry spell.

Chief Minister said that the mechanism has been developed for cleaning water tanks in the State and they should be cleaned twice in a year.

Irrigation and Public Health Minister Mahender Singh Thakur said that a special campaign was launched to clean water tanks throughout the State. He said State IPH Department was forging ahead under the able guidance of the Chief Minister. He said that adequate amount has been provided for replacement of old pipe lines. He said that despite prolonged drought like situation in the State, the Government was ensuring that there was no scarcity of water for the people.

MLA Prakash Rana, Additional Chief Secretary and Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Dr Shrikant Baldi, Secretary IPH Devesh Kumar, Engineers in Chief Suman Vikrant and K.R. Dhiman and senior officers of the State Government were also present in the meeting among others.