SHILLONG, Sep 2: The NPP-led MDA Government has reiterated its intent to commission Phase-III of the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS) within this year.
“We are sticking with our target of completing the project within this year,” PHE Minister, Renikton L Tongkhar, told reporters on Thursday.
The minister said that the department was facing a major hurdle since the defence authorities were yet to grant permission to lay the main feeder pipes in the Cantonment areas, including Khlieh Iewduh.
“If there is a need I will go to Delhi after the Assembly session to meet senior officials of the Ministry of Defence with a request direct the defence authorities in Shillong to grant NOC,” he said.
Asked if there was a plan B, Tongkhar said that the department will explore the possibility of realigning the pipes if the defence authorities do not give the NOC, a request for which was placed in 2018.
Meanwhile, he said that the department has issued letters to all contractors to complete their work on time. “Personally, I would request all the contractors to respect the target set by the government since the revised estimates have already been approved,” Tongkhar said.
He revealed that the government had recently approved the revised estimate of Rs 65 crore that was sanctioned from the Special Plan Assistance (SPA).
Admitting that the pandemic and the subsequent curfew and lockdown had hit the project hard, the minister said that timely completion of the project would require extra efforts from all concerned, including the contractors.
To a query, he said that the physical progress of the project is around 72 per cent.
JJM makes rapid progress
Speaking about the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), the minister said that more than 1.50 lakh rural households (26 per cent) have been provided with piped water connections.
The Mission has been affected due to the ongoing Monsoon but will pick up as soon as the rainy season ends.
He also pointed out that taking a leaf out of the Karnataka model, the engineers have been asked to explore the option of using High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes instead of Galvanized Iron (GI) pipes for distribution purposes in case of fund constraints. “The HDPE pipes are three times cheaper than GI pipes,” Tongkhar said.
It may be added here that the PHE Minister and senior officials of the department had recently visited Karnataka to study the implementation of the JJM in that state.
