Minister Sanjay Singh. (file photo)
State Bureau, Patna. A state-level workshop related to Operation and Maintenance (O&M) policy of water supply schemes was organized by the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) on Saturday.
During that time, the experiences of the last four years in the implementation of 'Har Ghar Nal Ka Jal' scheme were discussed in detail. Departmental Minister Sanjay Kumar Singh said that the O&M policy has provided institutional form to continuity of water supply services, monitoring of water quality and community participation.
He expected quick resolution of the problems related to drinking water supply from the officials posted in the area. He said that no complaints related to drinking water were received during the Chief Minister's gratitude visit. Tender for those projects whose O&M contract is about to expire should be done without any delay.
Departmental Secretary Sanjeev Kumar said that till now drinking water is being supplied to more than 1.86 crore rural families through more than 1.20 lakh rural water supply schemes in the state.
For effective operation and maintenance of these schemes, a comprehensive O&M policy was implemented by the department four years ago. Belsand MLA Amit Kumar Ranu appealed to implement the suggestions. Priyatu Mandal, Director of Dr. Syama Prasad Mukherjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation, Kolkata said that after connections have been provided to most of the houses, now the biggest challenge is to maintain the quality of drinking water.
He suggested to continuously review and improve the operating procedures as per the national standards. UNICEF participated in the workshop with this institute. Professor Gopal Naik of IIM Bangalore, Engineer Chief of PHED Nityanand Prasad and Abhay Kumar Singh and Manish Vasuja, Prabhakar Sinha of UNICEF India etc. were present in the workshop.
Discussions were held to ensure uniformity in the provisions of the O&M policy across Bihar, standardize reporting and monitoring processes and strengthen implementation at the field level.