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World Bank funds for Punjab project

Staff Correspondent

6,500 villages across the State to benefit

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government with the help of the World Bank is to implement water supply and environmental sanitation projects in 6,500 villages across the State at a cost of Rs.1819.35 crores.

According to Public Health Minister Harnam Das Johar, the project work beginning this year would be completed within six years. To begin with, 500 villages from all 19 districts of the State would be selected in the first phase of the project. Ninety-five villages have already been identified for inclusion in the pilot batch, where implementation is expected to start soon.

Elaborating on the criteria for the selection of villages in the project, the Minister said that preference would be accorded to villages which were affected by water quality problems, had not been covered under any water supply scheme or had schemes that did not supply adequate water. Villages where at least 50 to 75 per cent of the households sought private water connections would also be given preference.

For provision of sanitation works, Mr. Johar said, preference would be given to such villages which had been covered with water supply schemes but lacked adequate provision for disposal of waste or sullage water and where most of the households have constructed septic tanks but proper arrangement for the disposal of effluent did not exist.

Mr. Johar said that under this project, cleaning and remodelling of the village ponds would be done. The sewage water collected in ponds would be treated through low cost bio-techniques and used for irrigation or fish farming.

The Minister disclosed that to avail of this opportunity the agreeable Panchayats would be required to apply for inclusion of their village in the project, confirming their readiness to abide by the requirements laid down in the project concept. The Panchayats would be made fully responsible for operation and maintenance of these schemes, for which village level committees would be constituted.

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