Center approved Rs 1262.79 crore for Himachal Pradesh under Jal Jeevan Mission

Water Power Minister Mahendra Singh Thakur held a virtual meeting with the Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers of the department here today to review the Jal Jeevan Mission and NABARD funded schemes in addition to the announcements and foundation stones made by the Chief Minister and the Minister of Water Power. He instructed the officers to complete various works including various ongoing projects under Jal Jeevan Mission on time and stressed the need to take special care of quality in all works.

Mahendra Singh Thakur thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Water Power Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat for providing generous financial support to the state under the Jal Jeevan Mission said that this has been possible due to the efforts of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

He said that the state has achieved the first position in the entire country during the last two years in every household tap-to-water scheme running under the Jal Jeevan Mission. He said that during the current financial year under the Jal Jeevan Mission, the state government has sanctioned an amount of Rs 1262.79 crore, out of which the first installment of 315.70 crore has been received.

He said that under the Jeevan Jeevan Mission, 880 schemes are to be completed in the current financial year and 2.26 lakh houses are proposed to be tapped. He said that during the current financial year there has been a four-fold increase in the approved annual plan of Rs 1262.79 crore for the state.

The Water Power Minister also laid special emphasis on the installation of taps in the newly formed Panchayats and said that constant efforts should be made to achieve the targets set for the year so that by the end of this year, the target could be achieved.

He said that efforts should be made to link water life mission with tourism and in addition to the state gateways, with the background based on information reflecting this mission at the places identified in major tourist destinations like Manali, Shimla, Dalhousie, Dharamshala and Kasauli. Taps should be installed, where clean drinking water can be available to the tourists coming from outside.

The meeting was conducted by Vikas Labaru, Secretary, Department of Water Power.

On this occasion, the head of the department, Naveen Puri, Chief Engineer of Shimla Region Sushil Justa was present in the meeting, while the Chief Engineer and Superintending Engineer of other regions attended the meeting from their respective places through virtual medium.