HP to spend Rs 162 crore on 355 drinking water schemes

Shimla, Sept 7 (UNI) The Himachal Pradesh Government will spend a sum of Rs 162.72 crore under the Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) to cover 281 habitations during the current financial year.

Reviewing the eleventh meeting of the Apex Committee of the State Water and Sanitation Mission here, Additional Chief Secretary Parminder Mathur said, about 4,366 people of various panchayats had been provided training for creating awareness and community participation to involve more people besides managing water quality.

She said field test kits, one to each panchayat, would be supplied for better water quality control in the state.

Emphasising the need to create mass awareness among the rural people for taking up drinking water supply schemes under community participation concept being implemented by the Irrigation and Public Health Department, she said a sum of Rs 46.87 crore were being spent under Swajaldhara out of which 15 per cent has been allocated for Communication and Capacity Development Unit(CCDU) for wide publicity of the programme.

Ms Mathur said a total of 2,105 schemes were taken under the Swajaldhara of which 1288 had been completed with an expenditure of Rs 30.57 crore so far.

Most of the schemes consisted of installation of handpumps, gravity drinking water supply schemes, renovation of bowlies and wells besides lift drinking water supply schemes for the villagers, she said.

Reiterating the importance of the training component, she said data bank of master trainers should be created for sustaining the Prorgamme.

She also urged district member secretaries appointed in the district to hold review meetings regularly for impact assessment so that message of the programme percolated down to the village level.

Several senior state government officials were also present on the occasion.

UNI