Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Dec 17: A one day workshop on Jal Jeevan Mission was organized today by PHE Department at Udyog Bhawan, to review and deliberate on the strategy for implementation of the ambitious Mission in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam was the chief guest during inaugural function of the workshop, while, Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Bharat Lal, who is also the Mission Director of the Jal Jeevan Mission chaired the technical session. Commissioner Secretary PHE/I&FC, Ajeet Kumar Sahu, Deputy Secretary Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, GoI, Manoj Kumar Sahoo, Chief Engineer PHE Jammu, Dr SK Chadha, Chief Engineer PHE Kashmir Abdul Wahid, departmental officers and officials from all districts participated in the workshop.
During the workshop, detailed deliberations were held regarding the implementation strategy to be used for successful implementation of JJM in J&K.
Commissioner Secretary, PHE Sahu, briefed the workshop that J&K Government has envisaged to connect each and every household of the UT with Piped Water Supply by December 2021 against the national target of 2024. The J&K ranks 12th at national level with 30.5% coverage of Tap water.
Addressing the workshop, Chief Secretary informed that J&K’s men and machinery is geared up and working conscientiously to achieve JJM targets within the set timelines. He requested for GoI’s continued support so that JJM can be made a success in J&K.
Additional Secretary, Union Ministry of Jal Shakti, Bharat Lal, complementing the UT on their execution strategy for JJM, encouraged introspection by engineers to think about the long term Operation and management (O&M) strategy and sustainability of the project while planning, development of the water supply schemes. He asked them to undertake techno-economic appraisal in consultation with the people. He also asked the department to focus on devising ways for Grey water management and its successful reuse.
He stressed on the need for change in mindset of the department from ‘building infra’ to ‘service delivery’, so that the department can successfully fulfil its mandate of providing drinking water to all. He encouraged for undertaking utility orientation, and contract management training of department engineers.
He also asked the department to increase pace of work and ensure geo-tagging of the created assets so that their progress can be reviewed in real-time. He asked the department to focus on capacity building of communities to encourage people to think for their welfare and development of their community.
During the course of the workshop, e-inauguration of 8 Water Supply Schemes of Kashmir division was also undertaken. Besides, the designs of a special JJM Calendar encouraging water conservation among people was also released by the dignitaries.
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