Centre waives penalty on urban water supply scheme fund

SHILLONG: In a relief to the State government, the Centre has waived the penalty that was imposed after Meghalaya failed to initiate the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme under JNNURM.
PHE minister Prestone Tynsong said on Monday that with this waiver, the Centre has reimbursed Rs 43 crore meant for the project, which will now be complete in time. “After the Assembly session, I will personally pursue the matter with the Centre,” he said.
The Centre had imposed a 10% penalty on the funding of the scheme following inordinate delays in commissioning it. The deadline to complete the project, which began in 2010, was set as March 2015. The PHE Department had planned to commission Phase III of the project by March 2017 but unavailability of resources is likely to lead to another round of delay.
The total budget for the project is Rs 193.49 crore with the Centre sharing 90 percent (around Rs 174 crore) of it.
Tynsong said, “The project work is progressing well. Distribution of pipes is complete and other pending works will be taken up shortly.”
Reacting to the KHNAM’s claims that water being supplied from the plant is unsafe, he said a 24×7 testing laboratory has been set up there with dedicated officers to conduct sample tests.
When asked about water shortage in the city, he said each citizen would get 130 litres. Currently, availability of water per person comes to around 80-90 litres and the Department is hoping that they can meet the shortage once the project is commissioned.