Meghalaya: PHE deptt requires another Rs 40 cr to complete GSWSS Phase III

SHILLONG:

Meghalaya Public Health Engineering (PHE) Minister, Renikton L Tongkhar on Friday informed that the department would require another Rs 40 crore, as per the revised estimates, to complete the much-delayed Greater Shillong Water Supply Scheme Phase III.

Talking to reporters, the PHE Minister informed that Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had recently released an amount of Rs 25 crore from the state plan for this project.

"But we will need another Rs 40 crore to complete the project," Tongkhar informed.

He further said that the Centre has halted the funding for the GSWSS Phase III, adding that the State Government would have to manage from its own resources to complete the project.

"We will try to complete the project at the time when the State celebrates its golden jubilee (50 years of attaining Statehood)," Tongkhar added.

On the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in the State, the PHE Minister said that they have kept the target to provide water to all the households in the 6,500 villages, under this centrally sponsored scheme, by December 2022.

"The implementation of the JJM in the State was affected due to the shortage of the supply of GI pipes. We expect that the implementation of this mission would again pick up by June, with the approval of the Cabinet recently to allow the PHE to purchase pipes from any manufacturing units," Tongkhar informed.

According to him, the PHE department, all these years, had been procuring GI pipes directly from the NE Zone manufacturing unit located at Byrnihat in Ri Bhoi.

He said that the NE Zone manufacturing unit is unable to meet the demand and supply of GI pipes for the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission throughout the State.

(Edited by Ibankyntiew Mawrie)

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