ONGOLE: Ongole Municipal Corporation (OMC) authorities are making arrangements to provide drinking water supply tap connection to 7,000 households under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme of the Union government.
They had launched the AMRUT programme with the aim of providing basic amenities, including water and urban transport to improve the quality of life in urban areas. The OMC was allocated Rs 130 crore funds in 2016 and as part of this, Rs 123 crore were allocated for setting up of a water supply pipe line from Gundlakamma reservoir to Ongole along with overhead tanks and filter plants. Remaining funds will be used for laying of water supply pipe lines and domestic top connections.
Earlier, tap connections target was around 5,350. Of them, the OMC provided connections to only 2,850 households. However recently, the Centre said that the grant under the AMRUT programme will be cancelled if they were not utilised. Following this, the civic body is now focusing on utilisation of the remaining funds.
As per the latest survey, there are around 34,120 domestic drinking water tap connections in the OMC limits and another 7,000 households have applied for individual connections across the city. As per the AMRUT norms, the civic bodies should provide tap connections to each household. Now, the OMC officials are making arrangements to provide drinking water connections to all eligible households within a couple of months. “As per the AMRUT norms, we are going to provide tap connections to all households. Interested persons can register their names with the concerned ward secretariats,” OMC Commissioner K Bhagya Lakshmi explained.
Meanwhile, the water supply division of the corporation is procuring necessary material to lay pipelines.
“We are going to provide water tap connection to white ration card holders for only Rs 10 registration fee. But for others, (Non-BPL families) we will provide tap connection at Rs 10 registration fee and they will be allowed to pay the remaining Rs 7,500 connection fee in eight EMIs,” municipal engineer D Sundararami Reddy said.