The Administrative Council (AC), which met here under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, approved the proposal of the Jal Shakti Department to modify the road map for ensuring 100% piped water supply in rural areas under Jal Jeevan Mission by December, 2022 owing to the COVID- 19 pandemic induced delays.It was informed that under Phase I, universal tap water coverage has been achieved in the districts of Srinagar and Ganderbal and the Department after observing all the codal formalities, has taken up works in Reasi, and Samba districts which will be completed by 31st March, 2021. Completion of 1st phase of the mission will benefit 2,32,431 households in 1,087 Gram Panchayats across 99 blocks by providing them with functional household tap connections. Consecutively, the Department will also be taking up works in the districts of Poonch, Shopian, Pulwama, and Bandipora (phase II) which will be completed by August 2021.Further, the Department has identified 1533 projects worth Rs 3760 crore which require retrofitting of water supply schemes.
As such, efforts are underway to utilize the existing skill sets of departmental experts to achieve faster execution under these projects through fast-tracked e-tendering, 3rd party monitoring and concurrent auditing.The Administrative Council was also informed that to fast track execution of projects in the remaining 12 districts under phase II and III, the Department is appointing ‘Project Development and Management Consultant’ (PDMC), one each for Kashmir and Jammu province, which will supervise project execution, contract & project management, and bill verification; after creating a mechanism for checks and balances at every stage of execution through Paani Samitis and experts/professionals as prescribed in the JJM guidelines. Phase II will provide universal drinking water connections to 9 districts of Bandipora, Doda, Jammu, Kulgam, Kupwara, Poonch, Pulwama, Shopian, and Udhampur, whereas, phase III will cover 7 districts of Anantnag, Budgam, Baramulla, Kathua, Kishtwar, Ramban, and Rajouri.The Jal Jeevan Mission will be completed in Jammu and Kashmir by December, 2022 ahead of 2024 timeline provided by the Government of India.