Local bodies in Erode district have been allotted Rs 6.10 crore for water supply schemes to battle drought, according to Collector Dr V K Shanmugam

Pune: The state government has decided to set up water testing labs at district and sub-district hospitals across the state to provide safe drinking water in rural areas.

As part of this initiative, the state health department will set up 137 labs at the cost of Rs 15 crore. The aim is to increase the frequency of water testing and to decentralize monitoring and surveillance of all drinking water sources in the state. The Union government, under the National Rural Drinking Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance Programme, granted funds to the state’s water supply and sanitation department which in turn channelized them to the state’s health department for setting up labs as they do not have the required infrastructure.

Pune: The state government has disbursed Rs 413.98 crore so far to tackle the water scarcity situation in different parts of the state. Western Maharashtra and Marathwada are the worst affected regions in the state as they have received the lowest rainfall in the state during the last monsoon.

The government has allocated over Rs 400 crore to the department of water supply and the department of revenue, a senior secretary from the state revenue department said. “Besides, the government has given powers to the district collectors for spending up to Rs 2 crore as emergency funds. The funds are meant to ensure quick payment to water tankers, as many of them are privately owned.”

The tehsil officer at Vahera village in Beed district of Maharashtra was having a hard time of it, after being held hostage for an entire day by a mob of about 100 villagers.

Money for improving quality of drinking water in rural areas

The governments of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and some other states have drawn the ire of the Centre for failing to report the utilisation of funds provided to them for improving quality of drinking water in rural areas in the current financial year. Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are also among the States, which could spend less than 50 per cent of the support fund the Centre provided to them under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme, prompting the latter to threaten to put on hold the release of the second installment of the total annual allocation made for them.

The agriculture production commissioner, Alok Ranjan has asked officials to complete the national rural drinking water programme on a priority basis.

The ambitious Sajal Dhara water project, catering to the needs of five villages, has fallen flat in Burdwan as the panchayat has failed to pay power bill worth Rs 1.10 lakh.