Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Jal Shakti, Shaleen Kabra today chaired a meeting to review the progress on implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) across J&K with special focus on Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Poonch and Rajouri districts at Convention Center here.
The meeting was attended by Secretary in Jal Shakti department, Chief Engineers of PHE, irrigation and flood control, Superintending Engineers, Executive Engineers and other field Engineers besides Director Finance, Additional Secretary JSD and Joint Director Planning.
While reviewing the progress in these districts, the ACS impressed upon timely resolution of issues confronting the pace of implementation of mission by seeking help of local communities and the district administration so that the works are completed within the set time frame.
He further advised the Engineers to make use of technology in planning, execution and monitoring of the projects for an efficient management and identification of the issues and their resolution.The ACS emphasized on meticulous resource planning and mobilization of men and machinery as per the requirements to meet the timelines set out for the completion of the mission.
While interacting with the field engineers right upto the Junior Engineers level, he stressed upon partnering with the local communities in planning, implementation and monitoring of the mission activities for which the District Jal Jeevan Missions (DJJMs) headed by the District Development Commissioners shall have to play a proactive role.
He advised the District Level Project Management Units (DPMUs) to assist the DJJMs in effective monitoring by highlighting the bottlenecks well in time.In order to ensure the quality of execution, Kabra directed the third-party Monitoring Agencies (TPIAs) to strictly adhere to the prescribed standards while certifying the quality and quantity of works.
He impressed upon all the Engineers to maintain utmost degree of transparency and accountability in the process of implementation.The ACS also stressed upon Engineers to ensure that samples from all the water sources and villages besides the schools are collected and tested for both chemical and bacteriological contaminations.
He also reviewed the progress of water supply schemes being funded by NABARD and JKIDFC and directed for their immediate completion.The ACS further directed both the Chief Engineers to list out scheme wise site-specific implementation issues and take up with the appropriate authorities for their resolution within one weeks’ time so that the timelines for the accomplishment of the task is not missed.
During the meeting, the ACS was informed that about 95% work components like tube-wells, overhead tanks and rapid sand filtration plants and pipe network aimed to fill the infrastructural gap for providing Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTCs) to every rural household have been awarded and about 60% of such works have been started all across the UT.
Regarding the availability of pipe materials, it was informed that adequate quantity of GI and HDPE pipes is available in the central store Jammu and all the districts are getting the supplies timely as per their requirements.
The meeting was also informed about J&K being placed at 3rd rank at national level in Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance (WQMIS) which focuses on testing of water samples through water testing laboratories and the Field Testing Kits (FTKs) to ensure that the quality of water being supplied is confirming to BIS 10500 standards.