SHILLONG, Nov 9: Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K Sangma
said the northeastern state receives 63 billion cubic litres of
water annually through rainfall but is able to retain only 1
billion cubic litres of water.
He said this on Wednesday while launching the Meghalaya
Water Smart Kid campaign, an initiative under the Jal Jeevan
Mission (JJM) to create awareness about water conservation
among children.
“Meghalaya is one of the wettest places on earth. We receive
about 63 billion cubic litres of water annually, of which 31
billion cubic litres flow to Bangladesh and 31 billion cubic
litres flows to Assam,” he said.
The chief minister said to address the issue of water
conservation and sustainability, the state government has
taken various interventions, which are supported by
externally aided projects (EAPs) and the Ministry of Jal Shakti,
Government of India.
He informed that 1,000 water reservoirs are being
constructed across the state, to harness water and increase
the groundwater table through different soil rejuvenation
projects.
“We are making concerted efforts to harness water as it is
imperative to ensure sustainability and rejuvenation of our
water sources”, he added.
Sangma said the public health engineering (PHE) department
has received huge funding under JJM and EAPs, which is close
to around 8,000 crore.
“We have a challenge ahead of us but our officials have been
working tirelessly to achieve the targets in ensuring that
water is made available to every household in the state”, he
said.
The CM said that under JJM, Meghalaya has been awarded as
“best performer” by the Ministry of Jal Shakti with additional
incentives sanctioned.
He said that the state has completed over 4 lakh household
fixed water connections and by March 2024, the target of 6
lakh will be completed.
“In 2019, media and other stakeholders had ridiculed the
government for poor coverage under JJM, however, we took
it as a challenge and ensured that from 45,000 household
connections, we managed to increase it to 4 lakh plus
households”, he said.
The chief minister and PHE minister Marcuise Marak handed
over the award to Water Guardians for inspiring efforts in the
conservation of water bodies.
The awards were also distributed to Lumshyiap Village and
Water Sanitation Community of Ri Bhoi District, Darechikgre
Village and Water Sanitation Community of West Garo Hills
District and Dura Kantragre Village and Water Sanitation
Community of West Garo Hills District. (PTI)
