More than 95% people in Bihar now getting tap water, says CM Nitish Kumar

PATNA: Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Monday said more than 95% people in the state are now getting safe drinking water through tap after the implementation of his government’s ambitious ‘Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal Yojana (tap water to every household scheme).
Earlier the supply of tap water was limited to the houses of only 2% people across the state, he said.
Holding a high-level meeting, through video conferencing, with top officials of Panchayati Raj, Urban Development & Housing department and the public health engineering department (PHED) to review the progress under the Yojana, Nitish asked the officials of three departments to make a full-proof arrangement for continuous maintenance and upkeep of machinery and pipelines under the scheme so that people continue to get the benefits under it and safe drinking water is always available to the people.
“Maintain the arrangements of maintenance under the schemes at any cost,” he said and also ordered for maintaining continuous vigilance over the scheme.
The ‘Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal Yojana’, one of the seven components of CM Nitish Kumar’s ‘Saat Nischay’ programme, was launched in September, 2016 with an aim to provide piped drinking water to every household across the state.
While reviewing the scheme, the CM asked the officials of the three departments to complete the remaining works at the earliest. “Ensure continuous monitoring of the ongoing works at the department level,” he told the officials.
Earlier while making presentations about the progress of works before the CM, the heads of three departments said that all remaining works would be completed by the end of July month.
“Works in the remaining wards of the Panchayats and urban local bodies are being executed at a faster pace. All remaining works will be completed by the end of July,” the officials said in their respective presentations before the CM.
Earlier, the Panchayati Raj department’s additional chief secretary Amrit Lal Meena, the PHED secretary Jitendra Shrivastava and the urban development & housing department secretary Anand Kishore made separate presentations about the progress made by their departments under the Yojana.