Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar today promised that his department will do “wonders” by ensuring that as many people as possible will be given water connections in the quarter under the Jal Jeevan Mission.
After reviewing the implementation of the central scheme, Tongkhar told reporters the mission is meant to be completed by December but that Meghalaya has only achieved 40 percent of the target to connect rural households.
One of the problems is that the central government has now included nine census towns, which has taken the targeted number of households to 6.30 lakh from 5.89 lakh previously.
“We have not withdrawn from the race but, as I told you, the number of households have also increased. That is one of the reasons that we may not be able to reach 100 percent but we will try our best to achieve the maximum by the end of December,” Tongkhawr said. “We will be doing wonders in these three months since it is the working (i.e. dry) season.”
So far, 1,400 villages have achieved 100 percent tap water connection under JJM. According to the minister, Rs 1,600 crore has already been spent for the implementation of the scheme in Meghalaya.