Leh, 12 July: As Ladakh inches in on achieving saturation of the Jal Jeevan Mission, ensuring portable drinking water to every household, Advisor Ladakh Dr Pawan Kotwal reviewed the progress and discussed bottlenecks with Administrative Secretary, PHE Michael M. D’Souza.
Dr Kotwal stated that the quality of water must not be compromised at any cost and that the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) certification process must be done on a priority basis. Discussions were also held on treatment mechanisms for Floride and other benign contaminations found in water sources in a few areas across Ladakh.
While discussing the Operation & Maintenance Policy of the scheme, Dr Kotwal directed the department to ensure that the policy is citizen-centric. He stated that every individual and every village must take it upon themselves the responsibility to properly maintain the project while the department ensures assistance through trained staff and other requirements. He added a corpus fund by levying a minimal monthly charge must also be initiated to eventually make it a community-driven scheme.
Under JJM, twenty artificial glaciers are also being created in different villages across Ladakh. In this regard, Advisor Dr Kotwal directed that the maintenance of these glaciers is of utmost importance and that dedicated people must be put on the job of maintaining these artificial glaciers so that they are properly developed to serve their purpose.
Advisor Ladakh directed the team to address all holdups at the earliest and ensure saturation of the scheme in a time-bound manner.
Chief Engineer PHE/I&FC, Under Secretary PHE/I&FC, SE PHE/I&FC Leh/Kargil, Executive Engineer Leh/Kargil/Zanskar, AEE Leh/Kargil/Zanskar and WASH expert JJM PMU participated in the meeting.
