11,247 Maha villages turned 'water neutral' in 2 yrs: Fadnavis

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said that 11,247 villages in the state have become 'water neutral' in the last two years under the government's flagship 'Jalkukt Shivar' scheme.

He said this year 5,031 villages have been selected to be made water neutral (self-sufficient in water resources) and another 6,200 villages have been identified for 2018-19.

The chief minister revealed these figures while interacting with the district collectors and zilla parishad CEOs via video-conferencing.

During the interaction, he reviewed the progress of different schemes like Jalyukt Shivar, Farm Pond on Demand, Galmukta Dharan-Galyukt Shivar (silt-free reservoirs, fertile farmland) and Housing for All.

Fadnavis directed the officials to complete before June all the necessary work in the villages selected under the 'Jalkukt Shivar' scheme this year.

"Rs 1,000 crore will be released tomorrow for the completion of work," he said.

Under the Farm Pond on Demand scheme, work has been completed for 76,106 farm ponds, out of the total target of 1,12,311. Three districts have achieved more than 100 per cent target and 17 districts have achieved over 54 per cent of the target, a statement from Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

He said that under the Housing for All initiative, of the total 12.50 lakh applications, registration process has been completed for 10 lakh applicants.

Total 1,00,265 wells have been constructed so far and 76,689 are under construction.

Under the Galmukta Dharan-Galyukt Shivar scheme, 1,40,97,856 cubic meters of silt has been removed.

Fadnavis directed the officials to include villages in Konkan region in the Jalyukt Shivar scheme, as despite good rainfall, these districts require tankers during the summer.

The chief minister suggested that if required, services of retired employees should be used and outsourcing of work should be done.