TURA: Despite Meghalaya having the highest rainfall, it has been revealed that the state continues to face problems of water shortage, during a meeting of the District Water & Sanitation Mission (DSWM) for implementation of water supply schemes under Jal Jeevan Mission held at Ampati on Friday.
The meeting was attended by Ampati MLA, Miani D Shira and Salmanpara MLA,W D Sangma.
Speaking during the meeting, Deputy Commissioner & Chairman of DWSM, Ch. Ramakrishna informed that despite the state of Meghalaya having the highest rainfall, there has been shortage of water supply across the state leading to persistent problems in provision of safe drinking water to every household particularly in the rural areas.
It may be mentioned that National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP) was renamed as Jal Jeevan Mission and launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 15, 2019, to provide “functional household tap connection (FHTC)” to very rural household by 2024.
The meeting discussed the mode of implementation, formation of village water & sanitation committees and focus on building their capacities, preparation of District Action Plan, Village Action Plan and exploring convergence for water conservation, source augmentation by the line departments, among others. As most of the health facilities in the district are without proper drinking water supply, the Deputy Commissioner has said that the scheme should be made a priority to all health facilities. He also called for imparting awareness to all the villages on the need to take responsibility and ownership for safe drinking water in their respective villages and households
Ampati MLA, Miani D. Shira and Salmanpara MLA, W.D. Sangma also stressed the need for convergence to make the mission a success in the district and pledged their support to the mission through convergence of their SRWP funds.
Under the mission, the target for South West Garo Hills district during 2020-21 is 11,533 FHTCs covering 107 villages under Betasing and Zikzak C&RD blocks.
Earlier, E.E. PHE, Ampati, R.P. Marak briefly highlighted the background, objectives and vision of the mission.