Lieutenant-Governor K. Kailashnathan and Chief Minister N. Rangasamy at the commissioning of a rural drinking water supply project at Thondamanatham on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Chief Minister N. Rangasamy said on Tuesday that the government was in the process of implementing a loan waiver for farmers to the tune of ₹12 crore shortly.
Speaking at a function to commission a ₹2.50 crore rural drinking water supply project at Thondamanatham, the Chief Minister said, as per instructions of the Lieutenant-Governor K. Kailashnathan, efforts were on to complete the loan waiver modalities before Deepavali as a festival gift for farmers.
The farm loan waiver was one of the proposals mentioned in the the 2024-25 budget where the government aimed to waive agricultural loans totalling ₹13.36 crore availed by farmers from cooperative banks.
Mr. Rangasamy pointed out that steps, meanwhile, were also under way to reopen ration shops and provide 10 kg of rice and 2 kg of sugar free to all card holders by Deepavali.
On the water supply situation, he said the government was focused on providing clean drinking water to everyone in Puducherry. The government targeted providing 70 litres of water per person per day in rural areas and 140 litres per person per day in urban areas.
Although the quality of drinking water has declined in some places, the government has taken steps to provide good drinking water from alternative sources, Mr. Rangasamy said. In this regard, the government has taken measures to provide good drinking water in urban places that witnessed saline intrusion.
The Chief Minister pointed out that while it was planned to install bore wells at a cost of ₹450 crore in Keezhur and Sivaranthagam areas to provide drinking water to the city, the project has been temporarily shelved after some farmers protested against drawing water from there. A ₹450 crore desalination project is also on the anvil.
Mr. Rangasamy said though there had been allocation of funds for relaying roads and building bridges after the NDA government took office, development across sectors could be accelerated if the Centre granted Statehood.
Earlier, the Lt. Governor dedicated the water supply facility to the public and planted a sapling as part of a greening initiative at the site.
Executed by the Public Works Department, the project at Thondamanatham involved establishing an upstream reservoir with a capacity of 5 lakh litres, a downstream reservoir with a capacity of 2.50 lakh litres and a perimeter wall.
Speaker R. Selvam, Adi Dravidar Welfare Minister A.K. Sai J. Saravanan Kumar, M. Dhinadhayalan, PWD Chief Engineer, Villianur Commune Panchayat representatives and PWD officials participated.
A press note said that at the Thondamantham project site, water pumping motors have been installed and work has been done to pump water to the overhead water storage tank. The work of laying the new drinking water pipe has been completed. About 8,000 people in Thondamantham and its surrounding areas will benefit from this improved drinking water scheme.
The schemes for improved drinking water supply to all rural areas in Puducherry and other works with overhead reservoirs are being designed and implemented by the PWD arms, Public Health Division and Rural Water Supply Sub-Division.
Published – October 09, 2024 12:54 am IST