Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government will not be able to cash in on the “Har Ghar Jal” (water in every house) in the Vidhan Sabha elections to be held next year.
The work on Jal Jeewan Mission is going at a snail’s pace, so work will not be completed before the 2023 assembly elections. Before the elections, six months are left for the work, and once the rainy season begins, it will not be possible for the department to continue the work fast.
In Madhya Pradesh, only 39% of the project has been completed. In the beginning of the project, more than 1.6 crore houses did not have water connections. Only 41.87 lakh houses got water connections. Burhanpur is the only district where 100% of houses have been given water connections.
When the Jal Jeewan Mission was launched, Madhya Pradesh claimed that it would complete the work by 2023, but now, in terms of finishing the work, it is on the 21st position in country. The BJP wanted to cash in on the project in the assembly elections, but the incomplete work came in the way.
Minister of state for Public Health Engineering Department Brijendra Singh Yadav has accepted that the state is behind the target, but it will be achieved before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The problem lies with the contractor dealing with the project, Yadav said, adding that those who make tanks are not available, so the work is getting delayed.
Besides, supplying water to a community takes time, Yadav said. Nevertheless, the work is going on very fast on single project. As the project is associated with groups in villages, it is taking time, besides there is a shortage of contractors to deal with such a big project, Yadav said.
Project going slow in minister’s home district
Ashoknagar, the home town of Brijendra Yadav, is one of the districts where the work is moving at a snail’s pace. The other districts are Satna, Panna, Chhatarpur, Singrauli, Bhind Tikamgarh, Alirajpur, Shivpuri, Sidhi, Rewa, Ashoknagar, Shahdol, Sagar, Dindori, Guna and Jhabua where less than 40% of the work has been done.
CM is also angry
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has expressed his unhappiness at every meeting about the slow progress of Jal Jeewan Mission. A few officers have been recently shifted from the PHE department. Chouhan also warned the officials about the quality of work.
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