Raipur, May 7 (PTI) The Surguja district administration in Chhattisgarh has decided to set up 113 handpumps and borewells to ensure drinking water supply in remote areas inhabited by the Pahadi Korva community, a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG), officials said on Thursday.
The move is expected to provide relief to villagers who are currently forced to fetch water from traditional sources located far from their habitations, they said.
Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai recently took serious note of the drinking water crisis in remote areas of Surguja and directed the district collector to initiate immediate and effective measures, a government official here said.
Sai had stressed that people living in remote forested regions should not remain deprived of basic amenities and ensuring that benefits of welfare schemes, especially essential services, reach the last person remains the government’s top priority, he said.
Following the chief minister’s directives, Surguja Collector Ajeet Vasant instructed the departments concerned to complete all 113 handpump and borewell works within one month, he said.
The collector said a ground survey had already been conducted and the works will be undertaken using District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds across various development blocks, including 34 in Lundra, six in Batouli, 22 in Lakhanpur, 11 in Ambikapur, 16 in Sitapur, 20 in Mainpat and four in Udaipur.
Vasant has directed all janpad panchayat chief executive officers to ensure the rapid execution of handpump and borewell digging works on a priority basis so that a long-term solution for drinking water supply can be ensured in remote Pahadi Korva settlements within a month.
The CM’s initiative is expected to provide major relief to thousands of residents in hundreds of remote and forest villages that have long been grappling with drinking water scarcity, the official added. PTI TKP GK
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