*Govt unable to specify timeframe for completion of work
Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Apr 5: Huge population of Jammu and Kashmir residing in rural areas will continue to reel under shortage or non-availability of safe drinking water for several years as fate of 1638 water supply schemes is hanging in balance due to acute scarcity of funds. The gravity of the situation can be gauged from the fact that on one side the Union Government has squeezed the funding drastically under Centrally Sponsored Scheme and on the other side the State Government has failed to make arrangement of sufficient funds from its own resources.
Official sources told EXCELSIOR that several years back Union Government launched National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) with the sole objective of providing every rural household with adequate safe water for drinking, cooking and other domestic basic needs on a sustainable basis.
Under this programme, several schemes were sanctioned for rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir every year and with the passage of time the number of such schemes increased considerably thereby generating hope among the people about having access to safe and adequate drinking water.
According to the sources, till 2014, the State Government was receiving Rs 537 crore per annum under National Rural Drinking Water Programme from the Union Ministry for Drinking Water and Sanitation. In the month of July 2015, the State Level Schemes Sanctioning Committee headed by Chief Secretary explicitly conveyed to the officers of the Public Health Engineering Department to lay focus on completion of already taken up schemes during 2015-16 financial year by working out action plan as per the allocation of previous year (Rs 537 crore).
It was also brought to the notice of PHE Department that Union Ministry for Drinking Water has decided not to sanction any fresh scheme till the completion of those already taken up during the preceding years as such entire amount under NRDWP should be utilized for this purpose only.
However, after some months the PHE Department suddenly received information that funding under NRDWP for the financial year 2015-16 was squeezed drastically by the Union Ministry and an amount of only Rs 199 crore was earmarked for completion of ongoing schemes. Due to this, the PHE Department could not clear the work done liability worth several crores of rupees.
They informed that during the year 2016-17, only an amount of Rs 227 crore was released by the Union Government under NRDWP, which was far less than that sanctioned in the year 2014 thereby creating impediments in completion of schemes in both the provinces of the State.
According to the sources, the squeezed funding has created obstacles in the completion of 1638 ongoing water supply schemes—838 in Kashmir province and 800 in Jammu province thereby depriving the rural masses of the State of the safe and adequate drinking water.
“There are no chances of increased funding even during the current financial year as overall allocation for the Union Ministry of Drinking Water has been curtailed in the Union Budget”, sources informed, adding “the Ministry has told the State to arrange funds from own resources for completion of ongoing schemes”.
“As the State doesn’t have resources to give huge funding every year to the Public Health Engineering Department the completion of ongoing schemes will get delayed and may take 7 to 10 years for yielding the desired results”, sources said while disclosing that work done liability of 2015 is still pending for want of adequate funding.
Stating that peculiar situation has emerged for the State, sources said, “on one side there is no sufficient funding for completion of ongoing schemes and on the other side State cannot ask for sanctioning of more schemes for uncovered areas in view of the stipulation, which states that no fresh scheme shall be considered till completion of ongoing schemes”.
When contacted, a senior officer of the PHE Department said that Government was planning to find out alternate source of funding like World Bank so as to ensure that ongoing schemes are completed as early as possible. “However, whether this idea will yield the positive result remains a million dollar question”, sources said.
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