Chief Minister Revanth Reddy ordered officials to prepare an action plan to tackle drinking water shortage during summer.
The CM asked officials to take all possible measures to tide over the drinking water crisis in the summer. The CM directed officials to spend Rs 1 crore from the Special Development Fund of Rs 10 crore allotted to each Assembly constituency exclusively to meet drinking water needs.
The CM said the water available in all irrigation projects and reservoirs should be utilised to meet drinking water needs.
The Chief Minister asked officials to use water from the newly constructed reservoirs in addition to the Krishna and Godavari rivers to meet drinking water needs.
The CM said that it would be easier to supply drinking water to surrounding villages from the reservoirs. The newly constructed Mallannasagar, Konda-pochammasagar and Ranganayak Sagar reservoirs will be used to supply drinking water.
The Chief Minister said that sarpanches should be entrusted with the responsibility of managing the drinking water supply in villages and ensuring that all households get drinking water regularly. The CM asked officials to finalise procedures to give powers to sarpanches.
The Mission Bhagiratha wing has been asked to take responsibility for supplying safe drinking water to villages. The CM said that the maintenance of drinking water supply, taps and pipelines in villages should be entrusted to sarpanches.
The CM said that no one is paying attention to intra-village works and house-to-house tap water supply carried out under Mission Bhagiratha.
The officials told the CM that drinking water management in villages is not under anyone’s control. The CM said that the drinking water crisis will worsen if there is no accountability.
The Chief Minister said that the BRS government’s claim of supplying safe drinking water to every household did not help the state practically. Due to this, the CM said the state could not get Jal Jeevan Mission funds from the Centre.
The CM warned officials to stop projecting the state as rich by suppressing facts. People are still facing drinking water problems in many tribal tandas, gudems and agency areas.
He recalled that the people of Khanapur village had brought to his notice the drinking water shortage they were facing.
The CM ordered officials to conduct a comprehensive survey and find villages and habitations which are facing a drinking water crisis. As the tenure of sarpanches will end by the end of January, the CM asked the authorities to take responsibility for supplying drinking water in villages.
Engineers should visit all villages and prepare a list of habitations without proper drinking water supply. The new proposals will be sent to the Centre to seek Jal Jeevan Mission funds.
The CM directed officials to construct roads in all villages and connect all habitations. The officials informed the CM that 422 panchayats and 3,177 habitations do not have road connectivity. The CM ordered officials to construct blacktop roads in those villages.
He said that employment guarantee scheme funds will be linked if necessary for road construction and asked officials to prepare proposals for funds.
The government will also pay special attention to strengthening Self Help Groups by providing them with financial support.
The CM said that women’s groups will be given the work to stitch the uniforms of students of government schools, gurukuls, hostels and the police. The women’s groups will be provided training and arrangements will be made for that.