Shillong (Meghalaya), Nov 3 : Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat today participated in a discussion on “Space Applications in Flood Management in the North Eastern Region” at North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC) at Umiam.
The Minister is on a two-day visit to Meghalaya to review development work of his Ministry.
Shekhawat expressed hope in the efforts of the Jal Shakti Ministry and said that the aim is to make maximum use of modern science and technology to come up with a workable solution to the age-old problem of floods in the Northeast region.
He reiterated that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision and commitment to bring in all- round development in the Northeast. “Many schemes have been announced and are being implemented in this regard”, he said.
He added that under the leadership of the Prime Minister, several measures are being taken on a large scale to provide relief to the Northeastern States from the ravages of floods.
Referring to the Ministry of Jal Shakti, the Minister intimated that the aim is to provide water to each and every household and agricultural land.
Talking about his interaction at NESAC, he informed that the discussions revolved around technological intervention to expedite the development activities and its implementation in the region.
Later the Union Minister attended a review meeting of different schemes of the Centre such as Jal Jeevan Mission, Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana-Har Kher Ko Pani, Springshed Development Project for Rejuvenation of Springs for Climate Resilient Development in Meghalaya and other states .
The State government also apprised the Minister of the initiatives of the government for conservation of land and water that are being implemented in the State through community participation viz. projects under Meghalaya Basin Development Authority, ADB funded Climate Adaptive Community Based Water Harvesting Project among others.
Briefing the pressmen after the review meeting, the Minister said that the PM Modi launched the ‘Jal Jeevan Mission,’ from the parapets of Red Fort on August 15, 2019. The ‘Har Ghar Jal’ project is a part of the mission, which aims to provide regular drinkable tap water in sufficient quantity and quality to each and every rural household in India by 2024.
The initiative aims to liberate sisters and mothers from practices of fetching water for domestic use. The initiative is bringing comfort and dignity to people in the country’s rural areas.
The Minister intimated that out of the targeted 19.15 crore rural homes in India, 10.44 crore, or more than 54 percent, currently have tap water connections. The national jump during these years has been 36 per cent. While comparing the coverage of JJM in Meghalaya with the national achievement, the Minister said that at the time when the scheme was launched, the State.
had less than 1 per cent of coverage of tap water connected rural households. During these years, the Minister exclaimed with satisfaction that, Meghalaya has made remarkable progress and has been able to achieve 41.5 percent of tap water connections.
The Minister further added that wherein the national jump was 36 per cent, Meghalaya could make a jump of around 41 per cent. he added, “Today we have again reviewed in details how the challenges and bottlenecks in achieving 100 per cent coverage in the state could be addressed. Out of the 6.30 lakhs household, tap connections have been established in 2.61 lakhs households. I have firm belief that Meghalaya will be able to provide tap water connections to the remaining households way before the deadline.”
The Minister lauded the efforts of the state government for the ambitious projects that it has undertaken for spring rejuvenation and watershed management. The achievements of Meghalaya in these sectors would become an example for other states to follow, he added.
The Minister concluded with the belief that Meghalaya can be the torch bearer among the other Northeastern states with the various ambitious projects in different sectors and can fulfill the dream of PM Modi to become the growth engine of the nation.
