Orissa to launch Jaladhara on Gandhi Jayanti day

Bhubaneswar, Sep 19 (UNI) The Jaladhara project for providing safe drinking water will be launched in Orissa on October 2--Gandhi Jayanti day, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced here today.

The programme will start with one hundred water pipe project in each of the 30 districts of the state, Mr Patnaik said while addressing the district collectors, officials and representatives of Panchayats through the Gramsat programme.

Mr Patnaik said his government had accorded top priority to rural road connectivity, safe drinking water and rural sanitation.

The Chief Minister said in the next three years a drinking water pipe project in every panchayat and three to five drinking water pipe project in every block would be made operational.

In addition to it one thousand drinking water projects would be made under the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme and 500 additional pipe water projects with assistance from Panchayat raj department.

The government, Mr Patnaik said, also planned to provide uninterrupted water supply and set up toilets in every school and Anangwadi centres in the villages.

The Chief Minister announced a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh to a sarpanch who could motivate one thousand families to construct and use toilets in a panchayat.

UNI