SRINAGAR: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar chaired a meeting to review the progress of implementation of Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Jammu and Kashmir at Civil Secretariat here.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Jal Shakti Department, M Raju; Chief Engineer Jal Shakti (PHE), Iftikhar Ahmad Wani and other concerned officials of the department while as Chief Engineer Jal Shakti (PHE) Jammu and other officials participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
Speaking during the meeting, Advisor Bhatnagar stressed upon the officials that to carry out testing of all water sources for checking chemical parameters besides sedimentation problems or any other problems should be checked before hand for successful implementation of the scheme.
The Advisor exhorted upon the officials that there should be no scope for laxity in implementation of JJM as it is a very prestigious project and the government is committed to provide assured basic services to the people living in rural areas and JJM is part of that.
Giving a detailed presentation on implementation of JJM in Jammu and Kashmir, the Secretary Jal Shakti informed the meeting that 843,108 Functional Household Tap Connections (FHTC) have been provided till October 2020 which will be increased to 1015191 till March 2021.
The Secretary further informed the Advisor that out of 23112 schools tap water facility has been provided in 19794 schools while as same facility has been provided in 21977 Anganwadi Centres out of 28061. The meetings was also informed that Village Water and Sanitation Committees (Panchayat PaniSamitis) have been established in 3779 Gram Panchayats.
Addressing the officers, Advisor Bhatnagar directed them to maintain quality of work while implementing the scheme and exhorted upon them to complete the mission within the fixed timeline.
The Advisor asked the concerned officers to conduct the Audit of all completed works and ensure that all the works are done as per the requirements and parameters of JJM.
Advisor Bhatnagar asked the officers to put in place a robust grievance redressal mechanism and establish call centres for facilitating the public besides regular maintenance monitoring should be done on vital water schemes.
The Advisor stressed upon the officers to conduct tests of potable water on larger basis and proper testing plan for district or sub-division levels should be formulated in order to cater larger area while testing.
Advisor Bhatnagar impressed upon the officers to establish testing labs under National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) besides mobile testing labs should also be put in place so that the clean potable water is provided to the people.

KR Desk