Centre not sharing Jal Jeevan funds hitting 12 drinking water projects, alleges Nehru

TIRUCHY: Municipal Administration Minister KN Nehru said on Thursday that the Union government had not released funds under the Jal Jeevan Mission for the past 12 months, hitting 12 combined drinking water schemes in the State.

Raising concerns about the delay in implementing several water schemes in the State, the minister said that the Tamil Nadu government had announced as many as 12 new schemes under the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD).

“But the Union government failed to release funds under the Jal Jeevan Mission for the past year to Tamil Nadu. This halted the newly announced schemes in the State,” the minister said.

If the funds had been released, every resident would have received clean, safe drinking water, he said, underscoring that Chief Minister MK Stalin has been charting out schemes for drinking water. He claimed that the TWAD was almost inactive during the previous AIADMK government, which, he claimed, was rejuvenated under the DMK regime, sanctioning adequate funds for projects.

Inaugurating a new drinking water supply scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 119.22 crore in Tiruchy, the minister said that, before forming the government, the DMK organised grama sabha meetings across the State, during which more complaints were received about poor drinking water supply, which have now been sorted out.

“Now, 17 lakh residents from rural areas and 5 lakh residents from the urban areas in Tiruchy are distributed with safe drinking water. As many as 428 new combined drinking water schemes have been launched across the State, focusing on safe drinking water for every resident in the State”, he said.

Tiruchy District Collector V Saravanan and others were present at the event.