June deadline for Ramgarh Dhar water scheme

Our Correspondent
UNA, APRIL 17

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The Ramgarh Dhar drinking water augmentation scheme for 55 high-altitude villages of Kutlehar may not be completed before this summer. However, the Jal Shakti Department has set a deadline of June-end for its the completion. It will benefit 18,000 villagers.

The scheme was initiated in 1979 at a cost of Rs 48.8 lakh when Shanta Kumar was the Chief Minister.

Kutlehar MLA Virender Kanwar, Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development, Panchayati Raj and Animal Husbandry, said since there was no water source atop the Ramgarh ridge, new groundwater lift schemes had been created at Samoor village and the distribution network was being augmented.

Kanwar said 70 per cent of the work had been completed and the crisis of drinking water in Salangri, Bohru, Sakon, Gharvasada, Talai, Handola and Jagatkhana panchayats had been resolved.

Executive Engineer of the Jal Shakti Department AK Bansal said 40 new water storage tanks had been proposed, of which 26 were ready and seven had been commissioned. Those put to public use included 6.74-lakh litre tank in Salangri village, 2.47-lakh litre tank at Bohru, 1.09-lakh litre tank at Sakon, 1.25-lakh litre tank at Gharvasada, 95,000-litre tank at Talai, 37,000-litre tank at Handola and 35,000-litre tank at Jagatkhana.

The Executive Engineer said pipelines with enhanced diameter measuring about 11.2 km had already been laid, adding that a water treatment plant was also under-construction to ensure good quality drinking water during monsoon.