Minister for PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Sham Lal Chaudhary said that Government would fulfill its responsibility of providing safe drinking water to people besides ensuring irrigation facilities to their agricultural lands. The Minister was speaking during discussion in the Upper House on working of PHE, Irrigation and Flood Control Ministry. Government is making every possible effort to ensure people across the State get safe drinking water, for which various schemes have been undertaken in hand, he added. Earlier, Qaiser Jamsheed Lone taking part in discussion said that PHE is an important department, as it has a direct impact on public health. Contaminated water is the root cause of various diseases, he added and urged the Government to expedite works on various drinking water schemes taken in hand. Saif-ud-Din Bhat demanded cleaning of water tanks and fixing of leakage of pipelines at various places. Dharmbir Singh Oberia said that the Government should ensure water supply schemes properly formulated and implemented on ground. Showkat Ahmad Ganaie asked for establishing water testing labs at Tehsils as well as at District level and reviving of defunct centrally sponsored schemes. Vibodh Gupta stressed the need to provide safe drinking water to people, especially in Rajouri and Poonch districts. Ghulam Nabi Monga urged for reviewing defunct filtration plants operational. He also suggested that Government should consult concerned elected representative while indentifying a place for construction of a Tube well in any area. Besides asking for early release of money to flood victims and he also asked to expedite drudging work across the State. Jughal Kishore demanded that Katra water supply scheme should be made operational at an earliest. He demanded recruitment policy for hiring qualified manpower to run various schemes across the State. Ajat Shatru Singh said that the Government should pay attention for providing potable water to State’s tribal population. He suggested that initiatives like Water Harvesting, removing of encroachments from flood channels, raising awareness about the need to save water would go a long way in proper management of water. Yashpal Sharma urged the Government should take steps to mitigate flood threat in Poonch district. He said banks of nallahs in the district should be strengthened and defunct water pumps and Gravity Schemes should be made operational. Shehnaz Ganaie highlighted the need that Mendhar in Poonch district should be provided with a water filtration plant. Besides, formulization of recruitment policy where ITI holders should be considered during the recruitment by District Level Recruitment Board. Naresh Gupta urged that the Government should change old water pipes. He demanded for more transparency in procurement and distribution of water pipes. Surinder Choudhary said that steps should be taken to ensure portable water reaches to those villages that are deprived of the facility. He said jobs should be provided to people who give their land to PHE for laying their pipes as land compensation. Sofi Yusuf said that the Government should release payment of contractors who have worked during September 2014 floods. He also asked for regularization of casual laborers across the state.
