Ranipet tops in Jal Jeevan Mission

CHENNAI: Ranipet district today ranks first in the implementation of the central government scheme, Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to supply all functional house holds with safe drinking water.

Ranipet Collector D Baskara Pandian, who was moved to neighbouring Tirupattur district, said the district administration’s aim was to ensure that all households are given potable water through the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), in addition to improving the groundwater table.

“In 2020-21, a total of 395 works were taken up and completed in 79 village panchayats at a cost of Rs 26.31 crore, while the next financial year saw 838 works being completed in 173 panchayats covering a total of 28,915 households at an estimated cost of Rs.7.18 crore,” he told DTNext.

All these efforts took the district to the top of the table in Tamil Nadu according to the ranking compiled last December. “It is also ranked first in the ‘100% work completion’ category,” the Collector said, and added that a presentation on how the feats were achieved was made before JJM officials in New Delhi recently.

“The success of the scheme can be gauged from the lack of water-related agitations by the public in the district,” he pointed out.

NATIONAL JAL JEEVAN MISSION DASHBOARD

Functional households covered in TN - 59.03%4

Tiruvannamalai energises 1,200 defunct handpumps

Focusing on the water issue, the Tiruvannamalai district administration attempted to set a world record by reenergising 1,335 defunct hand pumps within 15 days. Till February 3, more than 1200 hand pumps have been successfully reenergised, Collector B Murugesh told DT Next.

“Though they said that around 1,000 hand pump reenergisation was enough to set a new record, I wanted to ensure that at least 1,200 were reenergized,” Murugesh said. Adjudicators from four well-known world record listing firms would not undertake a field study and certify the feat.

The initiative began on January 20 when 1,333 hand pumps from across the district were selected, including 20 in the rocky Jawadhu hills. “The officials who worked on the project are happy at the success rate, and provisional certificates will be issued after the conclusion of the field study,” Murugesh said.

Asked why he chose the project, Murugesh said the effort was to overcome the weakness of being a water-starved, backward district and instead become a surplus water district. “Already having tasted success by building 1,000 farm ponds, due to which the groundwater table increased by 3–4 feet, we feel that after the next rain, the water table in areas where hand pumps were reenergised will also see an upward movement. This will be of immense help to farmers who then can plan to increase the number of crops they raise annually.”

While undertaking projects linked to JJM, problems surfaced like not properly connected to supply lines in some panchayats.

“Work orders have been issued for JJM work for 2022-23, which are expected to be completed in three months. Another 1.10 lakh households will be covered under the combined water supply scheme (CWSS).

Wherever source is available, works are undertaken under the single village scheme (SVS). Elsewhere, we club a source from a neighbouring village under the multi-village scheme. The aim is to ensure that all habitations get water,” said the Collector.

GROUND UP

• Target fixed for re-energising defunct bores: 1,335

• Completed so far: 1,250 bores

• CWSS coverage - 1.10 lakh households

• JJM 2022-23 households to be covered: 5.55 lakh