water conservation project for all the 140 Assembly constituency in
the State. It is intended to tackle water shortage in the State.
Replying to a debate on the demand for grants for his department in
the Assembly on Monday, the Minister said the programme would lay
emphasis on tackling pollution of water resources, maintaining the
quality of water and preventing over-exploitation. He proposed an
awareness programme and a plan of action to achieve the objectives. A
meeting of legislators and local body representatives will be held on
July 3 to work out the modalities of the programme.
Mr. Premachandran said the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) would be
divided into projects, supply and maintenance divisions as part of a
revamp. The new divisions would come into being on July 1. The
projects division would deal with the conception and execution of
drinking water projects. He said the Rs.850-crore Special Project
Assisted by Nabard (SPAN), spread over 36 drinking water schemes, was
the government's flagship project in the water resources sector. Out
of the 91 packages under SPAN, benefiting 27 lakh people, 48 had been
approved and the rest would be re-tendered. Admitting to delays, the
Minister said he was in consultation with the PWD and Finance
Ministers to reform the manuals and codes concerned to expedite the
tendering process. The Minister presented an update of various
projects, their revised commission dates and the present status. With
regard to the JBIC scheme, rechristened JICA, local bodies had been
entrusted with the task of restoring the roads that had been dug up.
Under the agreement, it was the responsibility of the contractor to
complete the restoration work, but this had been amended owing to
work-related complaints. He was expecting a Rs.1,000-crore World Bank
scheme for Jalanidhi.
The Hindu, June 30
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