Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Mr. Ali Mohammad Sagar today directed the officers to speed up the implementation of Integrated Water Management Programme (IWMP) for which perspective plan to the tune of Rs. 2300 crore has been approved by the Centre.The Minister was speaking at a review meeting of IWMP convened here today. Commissioner Secretary, Rural Development, Mr. Farooq Ahmad Peer, Chief Executive Officer IWMP, Mr. G. H. Shah, Members of State level nodal agency, Project officers and other senior officers of rural development were present.Mr. Sagar asked the officers to start immediate work in the districts for which project reports have been approved, so that the activities under this programme are speeded up. He said that the funds to the tune of Rs. 821 crore have also been approved by the Union government and the need of the hour is to ensure its speedy and proper implementation.The Minister further directed the officers to work in close coordination and synergy, so that the lacunae and bottlenecks, if any are removed and smooth implementation of the programme is ensured. He said that the regular meetings should be held so that the status of different works undertaken is monitored effectively.
Mr. Sagar said that the panchayats of different areas should also be involved in preparing the perspective plans, so that the scope of participation and implementation of this programme is widened. He said that public participation is very essential in success of any programme and we have to ensure the same by involving the people at grass root level.It was given out in the meeting that Union government has already approved a perspective plan of Rs. 2300 crore under IWMP for treatment of 15 lakh hectares of land. The project reports for five districts stands approved and similarly, an amount of Rs. 821 crore has already been approved for taking up various activities under the programme and 488 entry point activities have been identified and work has been completed on 116.