VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed officials to take up road development works and repairs in rural areas by May 15-20. The construction of roads and repairs under the Panchayat Raj Department should be executed on a priority basis. Photos of the Nadu Nedu programme in health, education and road network should be displayed in village/ward secretariats in the State, he said.
The State government has given administrative sanction for Rs 1,073 crore to take up repairs of 9,000 km of rural roads. The works will commence soon after finalising tenders. Holding a review meeting on the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development at his camp office on Monday, the Chief Minister said Rs 83 crore dues to be paid for works taken up under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana should be released.
There are no instances of spending such huge amount for repairing the rural roads earlier. He also reviewed the implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS), drinking water schemes, construction of village secretariats, Rythu Bharosa Kendras, village clinics and digital libraries at the meeting. The State government has faced problems because of payment of arrears of the previous TDP regime, he said.
Construction of buildings should not be stopped and at the same time contractors should not face losses. The officials should prepare a plan to ensure that there is no delay in uploading bills and making payments with regard to NREGS works. A special officer should be appointed in New Delhi if necessary to coordinate with the Centre in implementation of NREGS, he said.
‘Link tanks with canals’
The Chief Minister directed the officials to link tanks with canals in the drought-prone districts like Anantapur and Kadapa to augment water supply and a comprehensive plan should be prepared in this regard. Water shortage in villages can be avoided if every tank is linked to canals and feeder channels in the coming five years. The government will sink borewells and provide motors to eligible farmers under the YSR Jala Kala scheme. There should be one rig in every Assembly constituency to sink borewells, he asserted. The officials informed Jagan that 13,245 borewells have been sunk so far and each borewell costs Rs 4.5 lakh.
A standard operating procedure should be evolved to sink borewells, which ensures effective implementation of the Jala Kala scheme. Works for provision of water supply in Jagananna colonies should be taken up on a priority basis under Jal Jeevan Mission, he averred. As a measure to promote hygiene in rural areas, panchayats should lay emphasis on the maintenance of drains and garbage collection. All works pertaining to solid waste management should be completed by October, he asserted.
The officials informed him that they will keep 2 crore dustbins ready by October for segregation of waste at the source.
Underlining the need for effective maintenance of toilets, he said the phone numbers of high-pressure toilet cleaners should be displayed in every village. Liquid waste management in all panchayats in the State should be taken up in a phased manner, he said. The officials informed him that 46 liquid waste treatment plants will be set up in the first phase and 632 desludging machines will be procured. Steps have been taken to augment drinking water supply in problematic villages in summer, they said.