Battling drought, Rajouri to get 1.50 lakh litres of water through mobile tankers daily

To battle a drought-like situation prevailing in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department would supply 1.50 lakh litres of water through mobile tankers every day.

District Development Commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary today convened a meeting to review drought management measures and the mechanism in place to ensure equitable water supply and to augment the availability of potable drinking water in the district.

The PHE Department would supply 1.50 lakh litres of water through mobile tankers every day till the drought period was over, Superintending Engineer, PHE, Rajouri, Rafiq Ahmed Khan said.

The DDC also approved hiring of 12 water tankers as well 40 trolleys for serving the critical areas under Drought Action Plan.

Four tankers in Rajouri division, nine tankers in Nowshera and 20 trolleys in Nowshera division covering areas of Nowshera, Kalakote and Sunderbani had already been deployed, Khan said.

On the occasion, the DDC released an amount of Rs 25 lakh to augment pumping machinery in view of the shortage of the same, out of which Rs 15 lakh was earmarked for Rajouri division and Rs 10 lakh for Nowshera.

More than 50 hand pumps were installed in water-scarce areas by the district administration and further installation was taken up with the department, he added.

The DCC deliberated upon the illegal connections on raising mains and supply lines. It was decided that line-wise a calendar would be notified for removal of all illegal connections with police assistance and stringent action should be taken in such cases, Khan said.

The issue of extraction near water sources and dug wells were also discussed and field officers were directed to ensure constant communication with the public and timely redressal of issues in view of natural water scarcity.

The helplines established at the divisional and sub-divisional level were also reviewed and it was decided that 10 officials would be deployed with the PHE to augment the control rooms, he said.