As the summer season has begun and the temperature is rising high, the Rajasthan government is making sure that there is no insufficiency of drinking water across the state. In the wake of countering such issues, the State government issued a set of special guidelines to make sure there is a smooth drinking water supply in urban as well as rural areas.
The government has instructed the public health engineering department (PHED) officials to go on field visits and solve drinking water issues on the spot. Besides, budget has been sanctioned for tankers in the rural and urban areas.
Reportedly, a meeting was conducted by PHED Principal Secretary Rajat Kumar Mishra whereby chief engineers and additional chief engineers were asked monitor the preparations made by the department. He told the officials to ensure that there is no laxity on the drinking water supply in summers.
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As per the guidelines, the chief engineers and additional chief engineers of all districts have been appointed as the nodal officers. They will be going out for field visits and will resolve water issues of people on the spot. They have also been instructed to transport water tankers in areas where the drinking water is not available. As far as the budget is concerned, INR 2,394 Lakhs have been sanctioned for rural areas and INR 2,195.88 Lakhs have been sanctioned for water tankers.
Another guideline includes transporting water to 13 scarcity-hit districts by making use of the state disaster relief fund (SDRF). Reportedly, more than 2000 tankers are transporting water in 16 cities on a daily basis by making around 200 trips. Besides, 1000 tankers are supplying water in villages and hamlets by making 887 trips on a daily basis. The government has instructed to increase the number of trips, if required.
Considering the fact that hand pumps are the main source of water supply in the villages a hand pump repair campaign kickstarted from April 1. In 2017-18, more than 2 Lakh hand pumps were repaired and more than 5000 were newly installed in rural areas. The government is making all possible efforts that the entire state gets a smooth supply of drinking water with the onset of summer season.
