Govt. approves drinking water projects of over Rs.27,437 cr

New Delhi, Aug. 26 (ANI): Minister of State for Urban Development Saugata Roy on Thursday said that the Government has approved 569 Drinking Water Projects of over rupees 27,437 crore in total.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Roy said that urban water supply is a State subject and it is the responsibility of the State Governments/ Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) to plan, design, execute, operate and maintain water supply projects with State Plan funds.

Roy, in reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today informed, in order to supplement the efforts of the State Governments/ ULBs in providing drinking water, the Ministry is extending Additional Central Assistance (ACA) under the ongoing Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

"151 water supply projects at an estimated cost of Rs. 19570.04 crore and 418 projects at an estimated cost of Rs 7867.21 crore have been approved under the Urban Infrastructure and Governance and Urban Infrastructure Development for Small and Medium Towns (UIDSSMT) components respectively," Roy stated.

The Minister said that under the Accelerated Urban Water Supply Programme (AUWSP) implemented during 1994 to 2005 in towns having population less than 20,000 as per 1991/2001 census, 1244 schemes were approved at a total cost of Rs. 1822.38 crore out of which 1012 have been reported completed/commissioned and 227 are in progress. Five have been dropped.

Roy said the AUWSP has been subsumed under UIDSSMT w.e.f. 3.12.2005. Under the North Eastern Region Urban Development Programme (NERUDP) Phase I which covers capital cities in 5 states, water supply projects are being implemented in 4 cities (Agartala,Gangtok,Aizawl and Kohima).

He also informed that the water supply sector is also accorded high priority under the scheme for infrastructure development in Satellite towns. A 100 MLD reverse osmosis desalination plant has been approved for Chennai city at an estimated cost of Rs. 908.28 crore of which Rs. 871.24 crore is central government grant.

Ministry is also supporting water sector reforms such as water harvesting, recycling and reuse of waste water, water audit and service level benchmarking, he further stated. (ANI)