53 villages of Gidderbaha to get water purification plants

Moga, Jan 11 (UNI) The Muktsar district administration today signed an MoU with an NGO, Nandi Foundation, for the setting up of water purification plants in 53 villages of Gidderbaha assembly constituency of Muktsar district.

The MoU for setting up of Reverse Osmosis (RO) for water purification was signed between Deputy Commissioner Vikas Garg and Regional Manager (Opertation) Sandeep Kapoor, on behalf of Nandi Foundation.

After signing the MoU, the Deputy Commissioner said the project would cost Rs 3.22 crore and would cover over two lakh people of 53 villages. ''The project is first of its kind in Punjab,'' Mr Garg added.

According to the DC, after the completion of the project, water would cost Rs 2 per 20 litre barrel and the user money would be contributed to the various operations and maintenance of the projects.

The DC also informed the villages of Gidderbaha were selected for the installation of treatment plants because the water samples taken from these villages showed high levels of flouride and nitrates, which could lead to cancer and other diseases.

The state planning department had already allocated a sum of Rs 2.5 crore for the project and the land for the RO project would be provided by the village panchayats, he added.

The MoU stated that the workforce to be selected for the project would be preferably from Gidderbaha constituency for which the Nandi Foundation would provide necessary training to the selected people ''The Nandi Foundation has already taken similar projects in Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh which proved very beneficial to these states,'' he said.

The process of installation of the Reserve Osmosis (RO) plants had already begun in 5 villages, including Kauni, Bhunder, Ablu Kotli, Kotbhai and Doda, the DC said.

UNI XC PS AE KN1712