Nagpur: Considering the shortage of drinking water in rural areas during summer, the Rural Water Supply Department of the Zilla Parishad has planned the water shortage in the district and prepared a shortage plan worth Rs 82 crore 90 lakh. According to this, 2905 measures have been proposed in 1172 villages of the district.
According to the shortage plan, 489 works of special repair of the water scheme, 153 new drilling wells, 1407 drilling well repairs, 52 temporary supplementary water schemes, 1926 works of public well deepening, 97 water supply through tankers, 170 works of water source strengthening are included in the shortage plan. To improve water access, the Water Supply and Sanitation Department has added a new initiative to strengthen water sources near existing piped water systems. This initiative includes 170 projects with a total budget of Rs 13.59 crore. The government considers the period from October 1 to June 30 as the scarcity period and has designed a three-phase plan to address it.
Local proposals are submitted through the Group Development Officer to the Executive Engineer, Rural Water Supply, and these proposals form the basis of the action plan to tackle potential water shortages. This year's budget for the plan is double the amount spent last year. The initial budget for the 2024-2025 plan was Rs 37 crore, but it has been increased by Rs 12 crore, effectively doubling the total budget.
In the last four years, the Zilla Parishad had not approved a single new borewell in the scarcity plan. Old borewells were being recharged through flushing. However, 153 borewells have been taken in this year's plan. "If there is no provision in the plan and a village experiences shortage, measures cannot be taken to alleviate the shortage in that village. Therefore, a large number of villages have been included in the plan in view of possible shortages. Villages where the works under the Jaljeevan Mission are incomplete due to various reasons have been included in the plan. Even though the shortage plan seems to be more than necessary, measures are implemented as per government norms only where there is a need. This plan has been sent to the District Collector for approval." - Ashok Dhonge, Executive Engineer, Rural Water Supply Department, Dist. P., Nagpur.