JORHAT: The Unicef, in association with the public health and engineering department, has taken up a drinking water project in rural areas of the district. It has also engaged an NGO to initiate it in two development block areas.
"We have been engaged by Unicef to work in two development blocks - Jorhat and Central Jorhat - under a project to provide safe water for drinking, working and other domestic needs in rural households on a sustainable manner. The basic objective of the project is to give arrange safe drinking water in rural areas. The objective of the project also included ensuring drinking water security through measures to improve existing water sources and appropriate use of groundwater, surface water and rainwater in day to day life," said Samir Ranjan Bordoloi, the director of Prakriti, an NGO engaged in the project.
He added that they have already completed some amount of work in rural areas of the district.
"The project has been implemented in 194 villages. Convergence programmes in the district and block level have been held where gaon panchyat presidents, ward members and those from the National Rural Health Mission were present. We have also engaged some educated youths, ASHAs and ward members as jal surakshaks. At present, they are busy conducting door-to-door survey in villages," he said.
Bordoloi added that the Unicef, along with the public health and engineering department, Jorhat, has set up a water-testing laboratory and checked primary drinking water sources provided by the government in rural areas. Moreover, they have also prepared a village map of the sources using GIS technology, he said.
He added that the Centre has installed more than 3.5 million hand pumps and implemented 100,000 piped water supply schemes in the country under the rural water supply programme. The total estimated cost for operation and maintenance of this project is about Rs 2,000 crore. But majority of these schemes are hardly of any use due to lack of proper maintenance.
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