Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today sought personal intervention of the Union Minister of Rural Development & Panchayati Raj Chaudary Birender Singh for prompt clearance of the pending project worth Rs. 226.82 crore to address the problem of quality affected water due to the presence of uranium and other heavy metals.Flagging up the issue in a meeting with Union Minister here in his office at Krishi Bhawan this afternoon, Badal informed him that the state government had already submitted a detailed proposal envisaging special allocation to tackle water quality affected habitations due to presence of uranium and other heavy metals as the majority of rural water schemes had been severely affected due to these heavy metals.Taking part in the deliberations, Mr. Badal said that a comprehensive project of Rs. 226.82 crore for installation of 1829 water treatment plants in 1971 habitations was submitted to GoI in October, 2014. He requested Ch. Birender Singh to immediately sanction and release requisite funds so that the people of the state could be saved from the curse of deadly water born diseases such as cancer and osteoporosis.
Seeking higher allocation of funds under National Rural Drinking Water Project (NRDWP), the Chief Minister asked the Ministry to change the existing norms of allocation so that the people residing in the difficult areas of Punjab like Kandi and water logged could be covered under this scheme of safe drinking water. The Ministry informed Mr. Badal that the current norms only permitted the states to get this special allocation under the prescribed norms for Desert Development Project (DDP) and the areas referred by the Chief Minister like Kandi and water logged were not eligible for this scheme.Badal also urged the Ministry to hike the MGNREGA wage rate from existing Rs. 201 to Rs. 300 per day in wake of higher prevailing market wage rate in Punjab.
Under Indra Awaas Yojna, the Chief Minister demanded to enhance the assistance from existing Rs. 70,000 to Rs. 2 lac as the amount allocated to the beneficiaries under the scheme was insufficient to construct their houses due to the higher rates of construction material.
Badal also asked the Ministry to release Rs. 35 crore immediately under Integrated Watershed Management Program (IWMP) as the GoI’s Prime Minister Krishi Sinchayee Yojna (PMKSY) has already notified 44 critical/over exploited blocks in Punjab where ground water table was depleting, of which 13 blocks have been selected so far under this project.Likewise, the Chief Minister also requested Ch. Birender Singh to immediately release the balance funds of Rs. 502.01 crore out of Rs. 997.99 crore sanctioned by GoI under Prime Minister Gram Sarak Yojna (PMGSY) for the construction of 279 rural roads having length of 2954 KM. He also sought early clearance of the project worth Rs. 867.71 crore submitted under PMGSY-II for the construction of roads of having length of 1346.31 KM besides releasing requisite funds to ensure completion of this project by the end of the next year.
Responding to the issues raised by Mr. Badal, the Union Rural Development Minister agreed to release funds promptly to tackle the problem of quality affected water due to the presence of uranium, arsenic, lead and other heavy metals as brought into his notice. He also asked the officers to visit the villages having the problem of disposal of sulage and ponds in the state as indicated by Mr. Badal, to take stock of the situation and suggest remedial measures to overcome it. He also asked the Ministry to revise the existing norms under NRDWP to enable the state like Punjab for seeking special allocation for launching safe drinking water schemes especially in the quality affected areas of Kandi and water logged.The Chief Minister was accompanied by Special Principal Secretary Mr. KJS Cheema, Additional Chief Secretary PWD (B&R) Mr. NS Kalsi, Principal Secretary Rural Development & Panchatays Dr. Roshan Sunkaria and Secretary Water Supply & Sanitation Mr. Ajoy Sharma.