New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI) The Centre has taken note of the water contamination incident in Indore’s Bhagirath Pura and is supporting states through financial and technical intervention schemes such as AMRUT and AMRUT 2.0, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.
In a written reply to a question, Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu said that the area has old pipelines dating back to 1997, adding that “some of it is damaged, so the municipal administration identified the old stretches of pipeline and included them under AMRUT 2.0”.
In Indore’s Bhagirath Pura, several people have died of diarrhoea and vomiting since the end of December.
The minister said that the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) has tendered four packages of water supply projects for Indore city under AMRUT 2.0, out of which execution of Package-1 has commenced and the remaining three packages are at the approval stage.
The project covers the complete water supply chain and includes comprehensive overhauling, augmentation and modernisation of the existing water supply system, encompassing source development, treatment, conveyance, storage and citywide distribution.
All packages include system integration, commissioning and long-term operation and maintenance to ensure a safe, reliable and sustainable drinking water supply for the urban area.
The minister said that water is a state subject and the Union government supplements states’ efforts through advisories and infrastructure funding.
Sahu said that the state government has informed that standard operating procedures (SOPs) have been issued to urban local bodies to avoid contamination of water.
“About 14,181 leakages were detected to date, out of which 12,634 leakages have been repaired. Out of 3,298 overhead tanks in the state, 3,109 have been cleaned.
“Similarly, out of 21,215 tubewells, 179 were found polluted and 86 tubewells were closed for use. Regular testing of water quality is ensured. A total of 656 water samples were found to have failed out of 80,976 samples, while action was taken at 588 points where pollution was detected,” the minister said in the written reply.
According to him, as informed by the state government, under AMRUT, three drinking water supply schemes worth Rs 541 crore and two sewerage schemes worth Rs 278 crore were implemented for Indore city.
Further, there are two water supply schemes worth Rs 1,142 crore and four sewerage schemes worth Rs 534 crore that have been sanctioned under AMRUT 2.0, he said, adding that two water supply schemes worth Rs 1,121.54 crore are being implemented by the municipal corporation. PTI BUN KSS KSS
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