RS.
52.93 CRORE RELEASED TO JAMMU & KASHMIR, HIMACHAL PRADESH, HARYANA
AND PUNJAB FOR RURAL DRINKING WATER
The Ministry of Rural Development
has released Rs. 5293.50 lakh for rural drinking water to Himachal
Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana and Punjab under centrally
sponsored Accelerated Rural Water Supply Programme (ARWSP) of
Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission (RGNWM) for the current
financial year. Out of this, Rs. 1151.90 lakh is for Himachal
Pradesh, Rs. 3193.20 lakh is for Jammu and Kashmir, Rs. 341 lakh
for Haryana and Rs.607.40 lakh for Punjab. The funds will be utilized
for execution/completion of schemes to provide safe drinking water
facilities to rural habitations and schools. Priority is to be
accorded to cover Partially Covered and water quality affected
habitations of these States. The States should meet targets out
of the funds released under ARWSP along with their matching grants.
Himachal Pradesh has to cover 693
Not Covered and Five thousand Partially Covered habitations in
addition to 350 schools. The center has released, including the
present one, Rs. 2817 lakh as first installment to the State during
2002-03 under ARWSP. Besides, the State also gets first installment
of Rs. 1,68,75,000 for planning and development of 50 watershed
projects for implementation under Drought Prone Areas Programme
(DPAP) in Bilaspur, Solan and Una districts. Under Desert Development
Programme(DDP), Kinnaur district gets Rs. 1,58,28,838 for planning
and development of watershed projects.
In Jammu and Kashmir, the target
is to provide drinking water to 1074 Not Covered and 1644 Partially
Covered habitations in addition to 381 schools. With this, Rs.
6162 lakh stands released as first instalment, against allocated
Rs.12324 lakh under ARWSP during 2002-03. Along with this, the
State also gets Rs. 119.04 lakh for watershed projects under DDP
in Leh District during 2002-03. Under DPAP, the State receives
Rs. 2,22,75,000 for 66 watershed projects in Doda and Udhampur
districts.
Haryana receives Rs. 341 lakh to
cover 48 Partially Covered habitations and 76 schools in the State.
So far, the State has received Rs. 1001 lakh as first installment
during 2002-03. Besides this, the Ministry has also released Rs.
129.06 lakh under Integrated Wasteland Devlopment Programme (Employment
Assurance Scheme – Watershed Component) in Bhiwani district of
the State. Under DDP, Mohindergarh district the State gets Rs.
43.875 lakh for planning and development of watershed projects.
Punjab gets Rs. 607.40 lakh to reach
the target of covering 1510 Not Covered and 1097 Partially Covered
habitations in addition to 1650 schools. With this, Rs. 1290.50
lakh stands released as first installment, under ARWSP.
