Minister for Public Health Engineering (PHE), Irrigation and Flood Control Mr Sham Lal Choudhary Thursday said that Government envisages minimizing water supply gaps existing at the moment by tapping more sources of water and conserving the existing available resources. He said to provide potable water to a population of over 1.25 crore remains a challenge for the department.Winding up the discussion on demand of grants for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Departments in the House, the Minister said that the twin cities of Srinagar and Jammu having combined population of over 26 lacs requires 135.13 MGD of drinking water, while as the Department is only able to supply only 114.86 MG on daily basis. The Minister said that in order to further augment the drinking water facility in Srinagar city two water supply schemes costing Rs 269. 37 crore are apace under JNNURM. He said Rs 224.83 crore have been utilised on the construction of these WSS upto last financial year. He said construction of WSS Sukhnag and Tangnar are being completed during current financial year.New treatment Plants at Harwan, Rangil and a 800 meter Branch Tunnel will be constructed to cater to the growing demand of drinking water in Srinagar city upto 2030, he said.
While referring to Jammu City, the Minister said that to meet the future water demand of Jammu city, a detailed project report of Rs 886 crore has been formulated and submitted to Union Ministry of Urban Development for sanction of funds.The Minister said that under Town scheme, 70 WSS, including 44 in Jammu with an estimated cost of Rs 277.44 crore are under execution in different towns of the State.Under Rural Water Supply Schemes, the Minister said that the State has a rural population of 91.08 lacs which is spread over 15798 habitations. He said under NRDWP 1461 Water Supply Schemes are coming up with an estimated cost of Rs 2625.18 crore and against which expenditure of Rs 1127.91 crore has been booked up to last financial year. He further said construction work of 182 water supply schemes is expected to be completed during current financial year which would provide drinking water facility to 317 more habitations of the state.The Minister said that to ensure supply of quality drinking water, 22 laboratories have been established at district headquarters besides two State Level labs one each at Srinagar and Jammu have been set up.
Highlighting the proposals for current financial year for the Department, Mr Sham Choudhary said that an allocation of Rs 342.65 crore has been proposed under State Sector which includes Rs 41.15 crore under regular schemes, Rs 34 crore as LIC loan, Rs 40 crore as NABARD loan and Rs 227.50 crore under NRDWP.The Minister said that 695 deep drilled hand pumps will be completed during current financial year besides 339 rural schools would be provided drinking water facility.Referring to the Irrigation and FC sectors, the Minister said that a comprehensive plan for up-gradation of irrigation system has been formulated. He said new irrigation canals, improvement and extension of existing irrigation system have been prioritised to enhance agriculture productivity in the State.The Minister said that five Major/Medium Irrigation projects are ongoing in the State at an estimated cost of Rs 232.05 crore. He said that the Union Government has launched a new programme Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojna (PMKSY) for which the Department is formulating a comprehensive project report to Centre for approval of funds for further augmenting irrigation facilities in the state. .
Referring to the restoration of 2014 Flood damaged projects , Sham Choudhary said that 5852 Irrigation and Flood Control works besides 2936 WSS have been restored on war footing basis to provide immediate succour to the people.Giving details of status of dredging of River Jehlum, the Minister said that two Departmental dredgers are actively in operation in Outfall Channel at Baramulla.The Minister said that Government has formulated a project report of Rs 2083 crore for construction of alternate flood channel and submitted to Centre for accord of approval.The Minister said that separate head has been proposed in the Budget to ensure release of wages on monthly basis to casual labours working in PHE Department. He further said wages would be given to the casual labour on Aadhar based biometric system.Later, the House passed the grants of PHE, Irrigation & Flood Control Departments, for the year 2016-17, which were moved by the Minister, amounting to Rs 3045.50 crore with voice vote.
The members who took part in the discussion on demand of grants include Mr. Mohammad Khalil Bandh, Mr. Sat Paul Sharma, Mr Mohammad Akbar Lone, Mr Bashir Ahmad Dar, Mr Javid Mustafa Mir, Mr. Ajaz Ahmad Khan, Hakeem Mohammad Yaseen, Mr Rajesh Gupta, Mian Altaf Ahmad, Engineer Abdul Rashid, Haji Abdul Rashid Dar, Mr Rajiv Jasrotia, Mr Mohammad Shafi , Ms Anjum Fazli, Mr M Y Tarigami, Ch. Sukhnandan, Mr Vikar Rasool Wani, Mr Aijaz Ahmad Mir, Mr Pawan Kumar Gupta, Mr Abdul Rahim Rather, Mr Kamal Verma, Mr Asgar Ali Karbalie,Mr Ranbir Singh Pathania, Mr Shakti Raj Parihar, Mr Mubarak Gul, Mr G M Saroori, Ch Qamar Hussain, Mr Ravinder Raina, Mr Usman Abdul Majid, Mr Shah Mohammad Tantray, Mr Daleep Singh Parihar, Mr Abdul Majid Padder, Mr Gulzar Ahmad Wani, Mr Neelam Kumar Langeh, Mr Raja Manzoor Ahmad, Mr Rajeev Sharma, Mr Dina Nath, Dr Krishen Lal and Mr Nawang Rigzin Jora.Later, the members, who moved the Cut Motions on the Grants, withdrew after the satisfactory reply from the Minister.