The Hindu 31.01.2010
State formulates Rs.3,875-crore water security action plan
T. Ramakrishnan
It is mandatory under Centre’s guidelines on National Rural Drinking Water Programme
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu has formulated a Rs.3,875-crore comprehensive water security action plan, covering 31 districts.
The amount sought by the State government from the Centre is proposed to be utilised in three years, the remaining years of the present Plan period (2009 to 2012), for rural drinking water projects. The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board has prepared the plan after consulting the stakeholders concerned.
Broadly, the plan has three components — the provision for coverage of uncovered population, sustainability of sources and systems besides rainwater harvesting and the installation of artificial recharge structures. In-house plan for capacity building and awareness creation among the community are the other components.
For taking up the coverage component, the State government has sought allotment of around Rs.2,250 crore. While the component of sustainability accounts for Rs.965 crore, the components of roof top harvesting and installation of recharge shaft amount to around Rs.660 crore.
Sources say the preparation of such a plan has now become mandatory for States under the Central government’s guidelines on National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP).
The Centre has made it clear to the State governments that it will release funds for rural drinking water projects only on the submission of such plans. Before 2006, Tamil Nadu was getting, on an average, Rs.125 crore from the Centre for rural water projects. After 2006, this was in the range of Rs.200 crore to Rs.250 crore. During 2008-2009, the Central allocation was Rs.250 crore. An additional Rs. 46 crore was allotted on the last day of the previous financial year. This year, the allocation was Rs. 327 crore. The State government has been setting apart approximately Rs.400 crore annually. The principle behind the plan is to mark the shift of paradigm on the rural water supply front from measuring the coverage in terms of litres per capita per day to ensuring drinking water security for all in the community.
