By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Nov 9: The PHE Department hopes to have crossed 5 lakh connections under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) by Christmas.
“The engineers from every division assured me that we should be attaining over 5 lakh connections by Christmas. Thus, this is what we ought to be aiming for, and I had a review yesterday evening,” PHE Minister Marcuise N Marak said.
The project is 62.12% complete. The breakdown is: East Garo Hills 80.43%, South West Garo Hills 79.30%, Ri-Bhoi 73.63%, Eastern West Khasi Hills 69.97%, North Garo Hills 69.88%, South West Khasi Hills 66.59%, South Garo Hills 65.61%, West Garo Hills 60.31%, West Khasi Hills 58.71%, West Jaintia Hills 51.28%, East Khasi Hills 50.70%, and East Jaintia Hills 44.50%.
According to the PHE Minister, the department is making every effort to achieve the deadline set by the central government, which is January 26, 2024, for the state to finish implementing the JJM.
“Once the power connection is done we will be able to connect around 53 households at one go,” he said, cautioning that occasionally some of the projects are completed but they must wait for connections.
Speaking about the difficulties in carrying out the project, he mentioned that there are issues with land acquisition; occasionally, certain locations are on the interstate border.
Additionally, he disclosed that the state government had cancelled several contractors’ work orders and given the work to other contractors after it was discovered that they were not performing the work on the ground.
“I have personally inspected some of the projects that have already been implemented, and they have been completed very well,” he said.
He responded to claims that the project has not been executed correctly in some areas by adding, “I am not saying these numbers on my own. This is from the JJM dashboard, which is viewable and informative.”
“These are merely accusations; in reality, you can go and observe that everyone has access to water. I’m not talking hypothetical here; I’m talking practical,” he continued.