ONGOLE: Works to provide water supply to every household under the National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM) have gathered pace in several villages under Marripudi and Chandrasekharapuram mandals in Prakasam district.
While 80% of the works have been completed, the remaining 20% are expected to be complete by March 2024. Officials of the Rural Water Supply (RWS) department are preparing to invite tenders soon.
A total of 1,529 works under the Jal Jeevan Mission programme were taken up with an estimated cost of `579 crore in 2019 with an aim to provide safe and adequate drinking water to everyone through individual functional household tap connections (FHTCs) by 2024.
Meanwhile, a State government-appointed agency is also working on securing an NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) certificate for the seven proposed water analysis laboratories in the district.
It may be noted that a two-member team, AK Gupta and Ashok Kumar Basara, inspected works under Har Ghar Jal 16 villages of the two mandals on December 26, 2022. They also took part in the village-level awareness programmes on effective water management methods.
The experts said, “We have visited 16 villages in two mandals and assessed the progress of works. During field visits and through our interactions with the Panchayat Sarpanch and secretaries, locals, women and officials, we have taken stock of the real ground level status of the works.
The experts recommended the district authorities to take immediate steps to get NABL accreditation for RWS water testing labs which would help in feasible assessment of NJJM works. They also advised the authorities on implementation of ‘Grey Water Management System’ in the villages for supplying safe drinking water to the people.
RWS superintending engineer SK Mardhan Ali elaborated, “Among the 16 villages inspected, houses in three villages receive water supply. Works in six villages are likely to be started soon. In the seven remaining villages, works have been sanctioned and tenders will be invited shortly for entrustment.” District collector Dinesh Kumar and RWS authorities are very keen on providing 55 litres of potable water to every person daily through FHTCs as per the National Jal Jeevan Mission (NJJM) guidelines, the SE informed the team.