DDC Anantnag reviews status of Jal Jeevan Mission in the district

ANANTNAG : The Deputy Commissioner (DC) Anantnag, Dr Piyush Singla today reviewed the performance and functioning of Jal Shakti departments virtually, here.

At the outset, the meeting reviewed the status of projects being executed and the expenditures made under various schemes and address any hindrances in implementation of the schemes.

The DC outlined that supply of water is one of the basic functions of the government. He said that under progress Jal Jeevan mission aims to provide tap water to all households and as such is one of the most important developmental interventions ever taken up.

Addressing the participants, he emphasized that every effort has to be made to ensure that the goal of tap water to all households must be achieved as per the projected timeline.

S.E Jal Shakti informed the chair that Jal Shakti department Anantnag is executing projects under 5 main schemes viz. CAPEX, JJM, B2V, NABARD and Regular component across two divisions Bijbehara and Qazigund.

He said that a total of 181 works have been approved and 161 works have been taken up for execution. While a total of 30 works have already been completed, most of the works stand allotted and are under execution. He said that some works have not been taken up as the procurement from M&S has been delayed.

He informed the chair that under District CAPEX, 54 projects are presently under execution and Rs 1 crore has already been disbursed. He said that while 6 works have been completed in Bijbehara division, 5 works are nearing completion in Qazigund division.

Under JJM, 73 works have been approved of which 9 works have been completed and others are under execution. He said that various far flung areas that lack supply of tap water are being connected under the scheme and with the successful implementation of the scheme; every house in Anantnag will have a tap water connection.

The SE said that while most of the projects are under execution, a substantial portion is completed and 81 percent of the allotted funds have been utilized.

S.E Jal Shakti informed the chair that a massive IEC campaign is being undertaken in the district regarding JJM. He said that 123 panchayats have been covered and an equal number of awareness campaigns held in the district. He said that more than 80000 households have been covered under the campaign.

The DC stressed on more widespread IEC activities. He said that information dissemination is an important component of the mission and the remaining panchayats should also be covered.

It was also informed that 9 projects have been approved under B2V3. Taking strong note of the poor performance of the department under B2V, the DC pulled up both Executive Engineers for poor performance and directed them to ensure that all works under the scheme are taken up for execution immediately.

With regards to financial progress of the various schemes, S.E informed the chair that out of Rs 13.52 crores released, 9.35 crores have been released so far which amounts to about 70 percent of the total release.

He said that under NABARD, Rs 60 lacs have been released and under Regular Component Rs 70 lacs have been released. Under JJM, Rs 7 crore has been utilized till date. He assured the chair that expenditure under District CAPEX will be expedited and the entire allocation will be utilized before March 2022.

Dr Singla emphasized that he has received reports that some approved works are not being executed despite allotment of works. He directed SE Jal Shakti to prepare a list of such contractors that are habitual of delaying developmental works so that a process to blacklist them can be initiated.

He further stressed that works must be completed and fixed timelines for completion of major projects. He directed them to report any hindrances in execution immediately so that the same can be tackled without delaying the execution.

Some major projects were discussed in detail and issues related to land compensation, procurement, 3rd party audits were also discussed with the chair during the meeting.

The meeting was attended by CPO, Executive Engineers of Bijbehara and Qazigund Division, Technical Officer among others.