The Jal Jeevan rural water supply project for the State launched by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday will cover all the grama panchayats of Kunnamangalam assembly constituency in Kozhikode district. Administrative sanction has already been given to shortlisted projects worth ₹55 crore for implementation in the first phase itself.
The highest amount of ₹21 crore will be spent for providing 8,400 domestic water supply connections in the remote areas of Olavanna panchayat. The second highest allocation of ₹14 crore is for Peruvayal panchayat, where 4,000 connections will be given. Kunnamangalam, Chathamangalam, Mavoor and Perumanna are the other panchayats that will directly benefit from the project.
At the constituency-level launch of the scheme on Thursday, officials said the project to be implemented with the Central government support would provide 22, 955 new water connections. It would give higher priority to backward communities and settlements, and would be implemented by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) and the Kerala Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (Jalanidhi), they said.
According to project coordinators, the mission-mode project would strive to improve rural water supply schemes by facilitating 21.42 lakh new domestic connections across the State in the first phase itself. It would reach out to 716 panchayats in Kerala in such a way to cover all the shortlisted beneficiaries by 2024, they said.
KIIFB fund
The strengthening of some of the existing water supply schemes, and the development of potable water sources in rural areas too would be part of the Jal Jeevan Mission. To support it, some of such projects would be completed under the development schemes of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB). Koyilandy drinking water project would be one of such major schemes to be completed using the KIIFB fund.
KWA officials said there would be separate panchayat-level and State-level committees for the thorough monitoring of the project implementation. For the public, project details and its execution status would be made available on a portal for review, they said.