HC asks PHE department to implement water projects

SHILLONG, March 2: The Division bench of the High Court of Meghalaya has asked the state government to make an endeavour to give effect to the State Policy as well as the Jal Jeevan Mission programme by identifying, at first, all remote villages, small hamlets and towns in Meghalaya, where citizens face acute shortage of potable and arsenic-free drinking water.
Hearing a PIL on the matter, the Court had earlier directed the state government to formulate a policy which should lay down a roadmap for those people residing in the state who do not have any access to potable water and lay it before the Court. On Tuesday, when the matter was taken up for consideration, the advocate representing the state government informed the Court that in 2019, the Government of Meghalaya had formulated the Meghalaya State Water Policy, 2019.
After perusing the policy, the Court noticed that the JJM of the Ministry of Jal Shakti was being implemented by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED).
While disposing of the PIL, he Court asked the PHED to provide easy physical access to potable and arsenic-free drinking water in those areas where there are no such provisions and to also ensure that the Meghalaya State Water Policy, 2019, and the JJM are effectively implemented within the timeframe as specified by the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti.