Punjab to set up utility firm to supply water to rural areas

Chandigarh, June 2

The Cabinet today approved the creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for operations and maintenance of large multi-village surface water supply schemes across the state.

The move aims at ensuring supply of potable water on a long term sustainable basis in rural areas of water quality-affected districts. This first-of-its-kind SPV in India will be a utility company, “Punjab Rural Water (Utility) Company”, under the Water Supply and Sanitation Department.

Chaired by CM Capt Amarinder Singh, the Cabinet, at a virtual meeting, also accorded approval to opening an account in the name of the SPV, with seed money of Rs 25 crore allocated from the World Bank funds (64 per cent) and state budget (36 per cent), to support its functioning in the initial five years of operations. The allocation will help meet the shortfall in revenue collection, if any, to fulfil the contractual obligations of the SPV and its administrative expenses.

The Water Supply and Sanitation Department is currently in the process of executing five new multi-village surface water supply projects covering 612 villages of Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts, and another project covering 408 villages in the fluoride-affected blocks of districts Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib. These projects are under construction. — TNS

Malerkotla 23rd district

• Cabinet formally approved the creation of Malerkotla as the 23rd district
• It also gave a go-ahead to upgrading sub-tehsil Amargarh as sub-division/tehsil

Women DC, SP posted

• Malerkotla will be led by two women officers. Amrit Kaur Gill will be the first DC of the district, while Kanwardeep Kaur will be the first SSP

Virtual attendance

• With a three-member panel appointed by the Congress chief hearing Punjab leaders in Delhi, half of the ministers attended the virtual Cabinet meeting from Punjab Bhavan, Delhi
• Sources said due to hectic political activity, only two of 23 agendas were approved in the 30-minute meeting