Centre sanctions Rs 665 Crore for water project in Tripura

Agartala, Oct 15 (UNI) The Central government has sanctioned Rs 665 Crore for water project in Agartala under Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNURM) to ensure supply of safe drinking water.

Official sources here today said that the project include renovation of existing water systems, maintenance of ground pipes and transportation of water from Gumati River, 70 kilometres away from Agartala.

''Since the main water source of Agartala, Howrah river gets almost dry and contaminated, we have planned to transport water from Gumati in South Tripura after due purification'', said state's Water Resource Minister Badal Choudhury.

He said, Union Urban Development ministry would release Rs 78 Crore for the first phase work that includes renovation of existing water pipelines and infrastructure for grater Agartala. Second phase fund would be spent on water transportation, he added.

With the growing threat of water scarcity in the state capital and its suburbs, the state government had sent a proposal of Rs 665 crore last year to transport water from the Gumati River, through pipelines to ensure water supply to an additional 1.5 lakh families in the city.

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