The Times of India             22.08.2013

'Supply water to 10 villages near Nagpur on priority'

NAGPUR: Water supply minister Dilip Sopal has directed the Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) to complete the water supply schemes to 10 villages coming under Nagpur peri-urban scheme on priority basis. The villages include Besa, Beltarodi, Ghogli, Shankarpur, Narsala, Hudkeshwar (Khurd), Kharbi, Bahadura, Gonhi Sim and Kapsi (Khurd). These villages will be supplied water from Wadgaon dam.

The state government has already given in-principle nod to water supply projects for 12 villages near south-west border of the city and along Wardha Road, under Nagpur peri-urban scheme.

However, not a single village lying in north and west direction of Nagpur has been included under the scheme. These areas come under the Hingna assembly constituency, which is represented by Vijay Ghodmare of BJP. The villages in south-west direction, which too fall in Ghodmare's constituency, have been included due to their proximity to Mihan.

The local MLA Chandrashekhar Bawankule had met Sopal and pointed out that Nagpur city had rapidly expanded beyond municipal limits but the government had not made any arrangement to meet the water need of these areas. Gondia MLA Gopaldas Agrawal also told the minister that urban areas outside Gondia Municipal Council limits were facing water scarcity. Sopal convened a meeting of the officials concerned in Mantralaya on Wednesday to solve the problem.

Sopal told the officials that in the last 10 years a large number of school, colleges and commercial establishments had come up outside NMC limits. "A large number of townships and flat schemes have also come up and thousands of people are living in these 22 villages. Some gram panchayats have basic water supply schemes but their capacity is not adequate to meet the increased population. Consequently, most of the residents depend on well water. Groundwater level has depleted in many areas due to overuse and hence proper water supply has to be provided on priority basis," he told AS Sandhu, principal secretary (water supply) and senior MJP officials.

Sandhu told Sopal that MJP had completed the survey for the water supply projects of 12 villages in south-west direction of Nagpur. The project report and estimate had also been prepared. The minister asked him to complete the remaining formalities as soon as possible.