Centre tells state to geotag rural water supply schemes

Sumit Hakhoo
Tribune News Service
Jammu, January 11

Following criticism over poor implementation and utilisation of funds under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme, the Central government has directed Jammu and Kashmir to go for geotagging and create an online database of all water supply schemes executed since 2009.

The step has been taken to monitor projects completed or being implemented under the Central programme, which is aimed at providing potable drinking water to the people in the rural areas.

The scheme has been marred by nepotism, corruption and delays in completing projects under the successive governments in the state.

Officials in the public health engineering (PHE) department said geotagging, a process to add geographical identification such as latitude and longitude with photograph to give the location-specific information online, was a major step to study the impact of schemes and monitor the funds sanctioned by the Centre in the past one decade.

“Monitoring projects is paramount to understand the flow of funds and bring in transparency in the system. An inventory of all projects, reservoirs and water storage facilities will be geotagged and a separate database will be compiled,” said a senior PHE official.

As per the Census 2011, J&K has a rural population of 91.8 lakh, who lives in 15,958 habitations. The total requirement of water is 147.72 Million Gallon Daily (MGD) but the installed capacity is only 92.13 MGD, leaving a deficit of 55.59 MGD. This was expected to be met under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme, but not much has been achieved.

Chief Engineer, PHE, AK Gandotra said: “We will start the tendering process soon. Geotagging of the infrastructure for water supply will help us to identify our assets.”

Gandotra said geotagging had now to be done in all Centrally sponsored schemes being implemented in the state. The Central government last year put restrictions on taking up new schemes in the state till the ones being implemented were completed.

Keeping track 

• The Centre has directed J&K to go for geotagging and create an online database of all water supply schemes executed since 2009
• It will allow monitoring of projects completed or being implemented under the National Rural Drinking Water Programme
• The scheme has been marred by nepotism, corruption and delays in completing projects