SHILLONG:
The state government may not be able to reach tap water to every household in the state under the centrally-sponsored Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), in 2022, as it had envisioned.
Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar informed that so far the state has completed around 40 per cent of the project.
“We want to achieve 100 per cent within this year. As of now we are hopeful we will reach a good percentage if not 100 per cent,” Tongkhar informed reporters.
On reports that some contractors have stopped the work due to non-availability of pipes, the PHE minister informed that those contractors who are doing the work on turnkey basis are managing to procure the pipes.
He said it was difficult for the department to procure the pipes as the rates have gone up and it cannot conform to the market rates, thus prompting the suppliers to cease supply of the pipes.
Tongkhar hoped that the rate of steel, which is the raw material for the pipes, would come down thereby decreasing the rate of pipes.
The PHE minister also said that the department is having another option of procuring HDPE pipes (plastics) wherever possible.
He also said that the department is aware of the delay of payment to the contractors due to the third party inspection because there are few companies for the job.
“I have given instructions to the department to empanel more companies, especially the locals to do the third party inspection,” Tongkhar said.
As of now there are only three agencies doing the third party inspection for the entire state.
“In every district of the state there are hundreds of schemes and thousands all over the state and it will be difficult for the three to do third party inspection,” he said.
On reports of lack of manpower in the PHE department to oversee the implementation of JJM scheme for the state, Tongkhar admitted that now in every village or division various water supply schemes are being implemented and therefore the workload of the engineers has increased manifold.
The minister said that recently 45 new engineers were appointed on 3F (contractual basis) but manpower is still an issue.
“We had initiated another process to appoint more under 3F but with the recent high court ruling on the roster system, the department had to stop the recruitment process,” Tongkhar said.
He said that the department had contemplated appointing another 20 junior engineers and assistant engineers.
Tongkhar said that once the state government adopts a roster system, the recruitment process will go ahead.