Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today urged upon the World Bank (WB) to sanction additional funds for timely execution of Water Supply & Sanitation Schemes (WSSS) in the water-logged areas of the state.Reviewing the progress of WB funded various ongoing water supply & sanitation schemes across the state during a high level meeting with the members of WB Mission and senior officers of the department here at CMR, the Chief Minister brought into the notice of WB that nearly 40,000 toilets were needed to be constructed in the water-logged areas and the cost of per toilet was calculated around Rs. 28,400 against construction cost of Rs. 15,000 in the normal areas. He said additional cost on the count should be immediately provided by the WB so that this gigantic task could be completed within the time frame. Mr. Badal also asked the WB to accept the claim for reimbursement as soon as the funds were released.
The WB team leader Mr. Srinivasa Rao Podipireddy updated the Chief Minister that water supply schemes have been provided in 317 Not Completed (NC) and Partially Completed (PC) villages benefitting a population of Rs. 3.90 lac under the schemes and the works have been started in other 194 water supply schemes for its strengthening and improved service delivery. A sum of Rs. 305 out of Rs. 404 crore had been released during the last fiscal for different project while additional budgetary allocation of Rs. 403 crore had been made for the current fiscal. Likewise, additional works worth Rs. 960 crore had also been proposed to be taken up during 2016-17.Prominent amongst others who were present in the meeting included Irrigation Minister Mr. Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Additional Chief Secretary Water Supply & Sanitation Mr. Suresh Kumar, Secretary Water Supply & Sanitation Mr. Ajoy Sharma, Chief Engineer North Mr. DS Cheema, Chief Engineer Central Mr. PS Bhatti, Unit Coordinator Mr. DK Bhasin besides Mr. Tanuj Mathur, Ms. Vandana Mehra, Ms. Pratibha Mistry, Mr. Sanjay Verma and Mr. RR Mohan represented the WB as members of the team.