SHILLONG, March 3: The Opposition Congress on Sunday suggested PHE Minister Marcuise N Marak to review the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme phase III for proper implantation so that the drinking water deficit is met.
There is a huge shortage of drinking water to be supplied to Shillong, due to which the PHE department is unable to meet the demand. There is a shortage of 11.84 million litres per day (MLD) to meet the daily need for drinking water in the city.
“To augment the water supply to Shillong and its suburbs, phase III of the GSWS was sanctioned for about Rs 200 crore’, Leader of Opposition Ronnie V Lyngdoh said.
Recalling that when he was a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the issue was raised, he said, “I believe somewhere, the scheme was not properly implemented”.
Stating that there was no priority in the item of work, he said, “There was no priority in the sense, for example, we were told in the PAC they have not received the subsequent instalments, but when asked them about the earlier instalments, instead of completing the earlier stages of the project like pump house all those things, they purchased pipes. ‘Unless you complete the initial stages of the project what use are the pipes’? He asked.
Lyngdoh said they could not submit Utilisation Certificates (UCs) and the subsequent instalments were not released. Stating that this should be a kind of wake-up call for the department that when they implement schemes they should do it according to the items of work that are on a priority basis, he said, “There needs to be a review of the whole scheme and then accordingly direct the correct way of implementing the scheme should be taken up”.
The total amount of drinking water needed daily for those areas covered under the Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme (GSWSS) — Phase I and Phase II — is 51.30 MLD.
“The total amount of drinking water supplied in Shillong city from GSWSS Phase I and Phase II is 26 MLD,” sources said.
The PHE department is hoping to meet the shortfall in the supply of daily drinking water upon completion of GSWSS Phase III.
It may be mentioned that VPP MLA, Brightstarwell Marbaniang in the Assembly had questioned the non-completion of the GSWSS Phase-III project, which began in 2008.
