Rajasthan is likely to roll out the ambitious Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 scheme to develop basic infrastructure for water supply, sewerage and septage management.
PHED principal secretary Bhaskar Sawant said that a meeting is being organised with finance department on October 10, 2024 for financial concurrence of the project.
“The Rs 5,000 crore project has been delayed due to various reasons. But now we have taken it on priority and we will soon start this project in medium and small cities as per the guidelines of the project,” he said.
According to sources, the scheme is aimed at drinking water connections to 8.35 lakh homes in 183 towns in Rajasthan. This is likely to benefit 42 lakh people living in smaller towns.
“The chief minister Bhajan Lal Sharma, PHED minister Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary and chief secretary Sudhansh Pant – all are concerned about the delay in Amrut- 2 project. Now tenders have been floated and there is every likelihood that the work will start soon,” said a senior engineer of PHED.
Sources said that the delay was mainly because of poor coordination between department engineers and central government run consultancy company WAPCOS, which has prepared the detailed project report (DPR).
“Now things are taking shape and we will soon the see the project on ground. This will be a big achievement as providing drinking water is a major issue in most parts of the state,” the official said.
In Amrut -I launched in 2015, 29 cites of Rajasthan were selected including Alwar, Beawar, Bhiwadi, Sikar, Hindaun (town), Nagaur, Jaipur and Jodhpur among others.
Prakash Bhandari is a veteran journalist with over 50 years of experience. He has worked with The Times of India for 30 years and contributed to leading publications as well as international news agency AFP.
