CM Mamata launches 'Jal Swapna' project
Kolkata: With an aim to provide tap water to every rural household in Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee government on Monday launched the "Jal Swapna" project. It will benefit residents of two crore rural households.
"This is a major project taken up by the state government. With implementation of the Rs 58,000 crore project, people walking four to five kilometres to fetch safe drinking water will be a matter of the past," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said after launching the project at Nabanna.
She further said that the project to supply purified drinking water at each home has been taken up to maintain good health. Still, there are places in the state where the tap water connection is yet to reach. The "Jal Swapna" project will not only ensure safe drinking water supply to each household but will also help in the further socio-economic development of the rural parts of Bengal.
Moreover, the implementation of the project will help to create new employment opportunities for the rural youth that will boost the rural economy especially at this critical time when it has nosedived due to the nationwide lockdown.
The state government took up the mammoth project and brought an end to all the controversies that had surfaced as the Jal Shakti Ministry had stated in the beginning of June that "West Bengal is yet to present its annual action plan (AAP) before the National Committee of the Ministry" for the same.
At the same time, the Mamata Banerjee government has also taken an initiative for the distribution of bicycles under the Sabuj Sathi scheme following COVID-19 norms. In a unique move, bicycles will be sent at the doorsteps of the beneficiaries as the schools are now remaining closed to check the spread of the disease. The bicycles will be distributed in five phases. In the first and second phase, 25.97 lakh and 10.34 lakh beneficiaries will be receiving bicycles. In the next three phases, 24.89 lakh, 12.79 lakh and 12.27 lakh bicycles will be distributed. The state government has already distributed 1 crore bicycles under the scheme so far.
