JAMMU: Minister for Jal Shakti, Javed Ahmed Rana, today informed the House that 20 Water Supply Schemes (WSSs) have been taken up under Jal Jeevan Mission in Marh constituency at an estimated cost of Rs. 61.06 crore. The Minister was replying to a question raised by Surinder Kumar in the Legislative Assembly.
He informed that, out of Rs. 61.06 crore, an expenditure of Rs. 19.65 crore has been made, so far. The expenditure included Rs. 14.15 crore on procurement of pipes being used in these schemes, of which, pipes costing Rs. 12.79 crore have been issued for utilization in these schemes and the rest are in the Central stores. He added that GI and High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes are being used in these schemes as per the suitability and technical feasibility, in accordance with the CPIIEEO Manual and advisories of the National Jal Jeevan Mission which explains "HDPE pipes should be preferably used over GI pipes."
The Minister added that the UT has been consistently opposing the use of HDPE pipes even in plain areas for which sound technical reasoning is not provided. It is imperative to use such cost-effective pipes that are currently used across many States in the country.
The Minister further informed that work, in this regard, is in progress in Chak Dina Dhatriyal, Makwal Malkey Chak, Gandu Chak, Nagbani and Chak Dali Old. He added that four tube wells have been completed while the work on the fifth is in progress. Legislators; Arvind Gupta and Chander Prakash Ganga raised supplementaries on the issue.
