DDC Rajouri discusses modalities for organizing special Gram Sabhas on water conservation
Rajouri: To discuss the modalities for organizing the special gram sabhas on water conservation scheduled to start from 7 April, 2021, District Development Commissioner Rajouri, Rajesh K Shavan on Monday convened a meeting with the concerned officers here in the Conference Hall of the PWD Dak Bunglow.
Among the others, ADC Rajouri, Sher Singh; ADC Sunderbani, Vinod Kumar Behnal; ADC Nowshera, Sukhdev Singh; ADC Kalakote, Krishan Lal; ADC Koteranka, Surinder Mohan Sharma; CPO, Mohammad Khurshid; SE Jal Shakti, SR Singh; PO ICDS, Kartar Singh; CEO Education, Gulzar Hussain; CAO, Mahesh Verma; ACD, Sushil Khajuria, DFO Rajouri, Arshdeep Singh; DFO Nowshera, Suresh Manda; DFO Social Forestry, Sanjay Kumar; DPO, Chander Kant Bhagat; ExEn Jal Shakti Rajouri, Mushtaq Ahmed besides other officers, members of the Paani Samiti and members of the women cell attended the meeting.
The meeting was informed that the Government has decided to hold special gram sabhas in all the panchayats of the UT to provide necessary awareness among the general public about the importance of freshwater.
During the meeting, the DDC sought a detailed report from the concerned officers of different departments like Jal Shakti, RDD and IWMP about the measures being taken for the augmentation of water supply in the district.
While giving details of the projects proposed under Jal Jeevan Mission, the SE Jal Shakti informed that as many as 264 projects have been approved at an estimated cost of Rs 1240 crore and the work on all the projects is targeted to be completed by the end of 2022.
The concerned officer from RDD informed that as many as 1006 sites have been identified where the irrigation Kulhs are to be constructed, while the work on 160 has been started and the work on 100 irrigation canals would be completed by the end of May this year.
About IWMP, the concerned officer said that out of 287 projects being executed by the department work on 86 projects is complete in all respects and the rest are at different phases of execution.
The DDC said that the conservation of fresh water and protection of its resources is a must for the welfare of the present and future generation. He urged upon the people to play a constructive role in water conservation and its preservation by ensuring judicious use of this valuable gift of nature.
DDC said that women are the best users of water and worst sufferers due to its scarcity. He added that the women can play an important role in the identification of the water sources and its conservation aspects and urged upon them to make best possible efforts in this direction.
He informed that special gram sabhas would be organised across all the panchayats of the district with special emphasis on water conservation. He asked the concerned officers to ensure maximum participation of the public especially the women in these gram sabhas to make them aware about the importance of freshwater and the ways how this precious gift of nature can be preserved.
It was decided that an exclusive ladies club would be constituted in the district which would be designated as a water conservation club where the women would gather to discuss the water conservation methods in particular and other issues pertaining to them in general.
It was further decided that a grievances cell pertaining to water related issues would be set up in the office of the Superintending Engineer Jal Shakti Department.
The concerned officers from the RDD were directed to repair and renovate all the water bodies in the district and also ensure that all these are geotagged. They were further asked to formulate the Panchayat water conservation plan by the 12th April this year.
The DDC asked the RDD to ensure proper cleanliness and sanitation around the water sources and carry out a massive plantation drive around all the water bodies of the district. The department was further directed to identify ten border Panchayats and construct three harvesting tanks in each of these panchayats.
The Sarpanches were asked to submit the list of the schools and Anganwadi centres which have functional drinking water and toilet facilities in their areas and the schools and Anganwadi centres where these facilities are to be made available.