VIJAYAWADA: Minister for IT and Panchayat Raj Nara Lokesh has directed Rural Water Supply (RWS) officials to install real-time monitoring devices at all water supply units across the State. He also instructed the officials concerned to complete the tendering process for the second phase of NTR Sujala initiative and launch the works for installation of 103 clusters.
In a review meeting on Wednesday, the minister said the quality of water, its flow and other parameters of the water supplies should be monitored in real-time using ‘KisanRaja’, an app developed by a firm for real-time data monitoring.
“The pilot project being taken up in Krishna district should be completed at the earliest and the real-time monitoring equipment such as sensors should be installed at all the supply sources across the State,” he said. The second phase of NTR Sujala worth Rs 221 crore should be launched immediately, he added.
Taking stock of the functioning of available hand pumps and other supply units, Lokesh said that inspection of water supply schemes should be done every six months. “Hand pumps will help us during the time of adversities,” he said. Lokesh also directed the officials concerned to resolve the pending grievances registered through ‘Jalavani’ call centre. Of the 24,000 grievances, 13,500 have already been addressed.
On the occasion, the officials said out of the 3,322 new water supply schemes under construction, 2,197 were completed.
Later, the IT minister also reviewed the status of plantation drive in rural areas. He asked the officials to go for ‘Miyawaki’ model for creation of quick and dense green cover. Lokesh said that the State government had already tried the method on a pilot basis in five acres each in three districts and 98 per cent of the plants survived. “The advantage of using the ‘Miyawaki’ method is we can get thick cover in two years. This month, we will plant saplings in 100 acres using this method,” he added.