Punjab govt to place proposal for potable water before FM

To ensure potable drinking water and sanitation in villages, Punjab government will soon place a proposal before the Finance Ministry for a World Bank-aided project worth Rs 2,000 crore.
A decision to this effect was taken by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during a meeting here with a six-member World Bank (WB) delegation led by senior Water and Sanitation Specialist and Task Team leader Srinivasa Rao Podi P Reddy this afternoon, an official release said.
The second World Bank-aided project would augment drinking water supply in 800 villages and lay sewerage system in 1,000 villages.
The Chief Minister asked the WB team for funds for upgradation of damaged water supply equipment in water-logged areas, the release said.

The WB mission said it would look into their additional demand of finances in this regard, it said.
The delegation is on a 10-day visit to Punjab to review the progress of Rs 1,280 crore World Bank aided Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project. The mission visited all the 116 villages covering 22 districts under the project.

Team task leader Srinivasa apprised the Badal that Punjab has proved to be a role model for other states and it was far ahead of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh where this project was also being implemented progressively.
He said Punjab was the only state in the country that has been able to run 23 water supply schemes.

He said the World Bank mission observed during its field visit that there was a strong demand for providing water meters in the villages so that poor people consuming less water were benefited by paying less for water consumption.
The WB team also informed the Chief Minister that Punjab was the lone state where 98 villages were being provided with piped sewerage system and progress of works was quite satisfactory.
All these villages were likely to avail sewerage connections within the next six months.