No compromise on providing safe drinking water to people: Secy PHE, I&FC

Jammu: As part of the continuous efforts of the Governors Administration to keep available potable drinking water in sufficient quantity to the common people of Jammu City, the Secretary, Public Health Engineering (PHE) I&FC, Farooq Ahmad Shah, Tuesday inspected Boria intake VT pump station and 300 cusec Ravi Tawi Lift irrigation plant, Jammu to take stock of its functioning.
During the visit, the Secretary said there will be no compromise in providing safe drinking water to the general public. He stressed upon all the concerned to work with dedication and make sure to provide safe drinking water to the people.
While inspecting the functioning of 300 cusec lift Irrigation plant, the Secretary was apprised that the station has 6 pumps with the capacity of 60 cusec each. Presently 5 pumps are functional and one pump remains on standby mode.
He directed for immediate cleaning of all the surroundings of lift Irrigation plant and proper maintenance of machinery particularly pumps of Boria intake VT pump station so that there will be no leakage and wastage of drinking water.
Besides taking a meeting with the senior officials of the PHE department, at PHE Division (South) Gandhinagar, the Secretary also had an interaction with the staff.
The Secretary was informed that the water treatment plant Boria and Narwal feeds potable drinking water to more than 2.50 lakh souls of surrounding areas i.e Batandi, Nowabad, Narwal, Sujma and Sainik colony and other areas of Jammu city.
Shah was apprised that Boria plant provides 36 lakh gallons and Narwal provides 70 lakh gallons of drinking water per day to the people. He was also informed that the capacity will be increased by another 20 lakh gallons of water upto March 2019 and it will be supplied to those areas which are facing shortage of drinking water facility.
He was informed that in Jammu district 53 languishing projects of PHE have been approved at a cost of Rs 100.56 crore of which 22 projects will be completed by March 2019 and remaining projects would be completed by next year.
Shah said all the languishing projects should be strictly completed within the stipulated time frame. He also stressed for judicious and transparency in the execution of the projects.
He stressed upon the officials to carry out regular inspection of water tanks and asked them to perform their duties with full dedication. He said the government is duty bound to provide safe drinking water to the people and reaffirmed government’s resolve to eradicate water-borne diseases in the State. He also said it is our prime duty to protect water resources and keep them pollution free. He said consumers should use the supplied water judiciously without any wastage. He said safeguarding of water resources is important and this is the moral and personal responsibility of the people to conserve water.
On the occasion, the Secretary stressed upon officials to gear up their men and machinery and speed up work at grass root level so that people get clean drinking water facilities.
He emphasized upon all the officers and engineers of the PHE Department to work with added zeal and zest in order to ensure timely completion of all the projects.
Chief Engineer PHE Jammu Ashok Gandotra, Executive Engineers and officers of PHE department accompanied the Secretary.