Public Health Engineering Minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar today denied that Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti, Bishweswar Tudu, was not happy with the progress of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Meghalaya.
It had been reported last week in a section of the media that Tudu, who was on a visit to Meghalaya, was not fully satisfied with the progress of the JJM in the state. Tudu was reported as saying that while the plans are good on paper, the execution has been lagging behind.
However, today Tongkhar said that Tudu never expressed any dissatisfaction about the progress of JJM, only that he was disappointed that he was not given the hard copy of the presentation made by the PHE Department during a review meeting. Tudu had walked out of that meeting and made his disappointment plain to the waiting media.
“He never said anything about being unhappy with the performance. If that was the case, the state wouldn’t get a performance award from the Ministry. We have received the award twice and we are doing well compared to other states,” Tongkhar said.
Asked if the JJM will be completed by the set deadline of March 2024, the minister was positive that it will be completed before the Centre’s deadline. So far, 40 percent coverage has been accomplished, with Garo Hills leading the way.
Tongkhar added that the PHE Department has almost achieved the sanction target, with 5.45 lakh households sanctioned out of 5.9 lakh targeted.
“Hardly 40,000-plus households need to be sanctioned and I’m hoping that by September we may reach 100 percent. In terms of completing household connections, we are to hit 50 percent by September,” he added.
Meghalaya has faced challenges in the scheme’s implementation as far as the hilly terrain and heavy monsoon. In addition, the price of steel had been going up, making water pipes prohibitively expensive. However, with the recent fall in prices, pipes are being purchased at a more affordable rate, he informed.
Tongkhar also informed that the sanctioned amount under JJM cannot be revised in case there are spikes in prices, hence the contractor has to complete the work at the original amount.
The total amount sanctioned for this project in Meghalaya is approximately Rs 5,467 crore but the state government estimates that several hundred more crores will be required to complete it.
