The Public Health Engineering Department has reportedly laid down a pipeline by cutting through the rocks under the new water scheme of West Rajasthan. This scheme will cater to the water needs of 12.86 people residing in 568 border villages of Jaisalmer and Barmer districts. Besides, it would also provide drinking water to the armed forces deployed in these border areas.
As per the revelation made by district collector Shivprasad Madan Nakate, work on two projects will revive soon. These include the Gudamalani-Chauhatan and Ramsar-Sheo projects which were stalled from the past 2 years. Besides, the refinery work at Pachpadra will also be completed.
Narmada Canal
As per the Principal Secretary of PHED, Rajat Mishra, the work on these water projects will be over between September and October. The project would enable to supply drinking water to 12.86 Lakh people in 568 border villages.
Talking about the cost of the project, INR 1,454.20 Crores were sanctioned for the initial phase and till April, more than INR 1300 Crores were spent. The army has also deposited INR 47 Crores with the PHED Department.
Both the water projects posed a big challenge for the PHED department as it involved laying down the pipelines under the sand by cutting through the works. Due to this, a few contractors had left the work unfinished which delayed the project. However, the department sought help from different sections and now it’s at the last phase.
Till now the people in both villages of Barmer and Jaisalmer were dependent on saline water because of the shortage of water. Now that the pipelines have been laid down for 300 kms and the Bagundi crossing work is soon going to complete, the villagers will get fresh drinking water under the west Rajasthan water scheme.
Another project associated with the Narmada Canal which was stalled because of NOC issues has now been given a green signal. The forest department didn’t provide the NOC as the Chauhatan Ramsar area is concerned as a green belt. Now that the approval has been received, pipelines will be laid for 1300 kms.
