Jal Swapna project: Dists directed to expedite work
Kolkata: The state government has directed all district magistrates to set up respective District Project Management Units to accelerate the work of Jal Swapna project under which tap water connection would be provided to at least 1 crore households by the end of March 2022.
Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi held a virtual meeting with all district magistrates along with officers of the project's nodal department – Public Health Engineering (PHE).
Sources said that every district has been directed to set up the management units comprising officers of both district administration and PHE department. The basic task of the units would be to supervise implementation of the project at the grassroot level. Members of the units would be provided with training and needed infrastructure to closely monitor the project as the target is to ensure tap water connection at every 2.5 crore households in Bengal by the end of 2024.
The officers, who would be in the units, would convey information in case of any glitches faced while implementing the projects. "It could be related to land, logistics or any other issues. After receiving the information, the PHE authorities along with district administration would work jointly to find out a solution for the same," said a senior state government officer.
Stress has also been given for better coordination with the District Water and Sanitation Management Committee, which are headed by respective sabhadhipati.
This comes when the state has topped all states in providing tap water connections to every household in the month of August leaving behind Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh. It is only in the month of August, tap water connections have been provided to 2.38 lakh households taking the total number of such beneficiaries in the state to nearly 20 lakh.
It needs mention that Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh are in seventh and eighth position in terms of providing tap water connection in the month of August as it provided 1.22 lakh and 89,321 connections in the same month.
