Chandigarh, August 25:– Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Naib Singh Saini said that all those old water works in the state should be made RCC (cement-concrete) based where the purity of water is being affected due to mixing with ground water. Apart from this, wherever possible, tubewell based water works should be made canal water based on priority.
Chief Minister Mr. Naib Singh Saini gave these instructions while chairing a meeting organized with the officials of the Public Health Engineering Department on Tuesday to review the status of water bodies and drinking water supply in the state. Public Health Engineering Minister Mr. Ranbir Singh Gangwa was also present in the meeting.
Principal Secretary of the department Mr. Pankaj Yadav said that at present 1888 canal water based water works and 4199 boosting stations are operational in the state. Apart from these, 12404 tubewells and 5 rain well schemes are also being used for water supply. He said that 3674 tubewells have been handed over to the concerned gram panchayats by the department. He said that the process of setting up 103 new canal based water works, 1065 new tubewells, 369 new boosting stations and 2 new rain wells is in progress in the state as per the requirement. He said that out of the 7005 km distribution network, 1525 km long lines will be replaced, out of which 837 km of distribution network will be replaced by March 2027. He said that 466 brick built water works are being converted into RCC based water works. This work will cost about Rs 1000 crore.
The Chief Minister said that providing clean drinking water to the people of the state is the priority of the Haryana Government. Lack of money will not be allowed to become a hindrance for the supply of clean drinking water. He said that all such water works should be made RCC based where the TDS, hardness and fluoride content of the water is increasing due to mixing of ground water with water works water. To make such water completely drinkable, the pressure on the machinery of the water works increases. Therefore, all such water works should be made RCC based.
Chief Minister Mr. Naib Singh Saini said that with the efforts being made by the government at present, improvement in the ground water level will be seen in the coming years. This will not only stop the falling ground water level but will also improve the quality of water. He said that due to the establishment of treatment plants, the quality of the Yamuna water flowing from Haryana to Delhi has also improved. He directed the officials to increase the capacity of the new water works being constructed as per the increasing population.
Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Mr. Arun Kumar Gupta, Deputy Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Mr. Yashpal Yadav and Engineer-in-Chief Mr. Devendra Dahiya along with other officers of the department were also present in the meeting.