if any, of Central sponsored schemes in Churachandpur district.
An informed source said the petitioners on March 27 filed their application to the CPIO seeking information on the status of utilization of Rs. 213.26 lakhs and another amount of Rs. 204.64 lakhs sanctioned for augmentation of water supply scheme at Thanlon and Singhat sub-divisions res-pectively, under the Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) of the Doner ministry.
Referring to contents in the website of the Doner ministry wherein it had been mentioned that Rs. 67.14 lakhs and Rs. 64.45 lakhs were released but the utilization record display nought, the petitioners including L Samte, J Tonsing and S Thomte raised posers as to whether or not the pro-ject has begun.
Invoking clause of the Right to Information Act the trio sought copies of the detailed project report of the schemes in addition to demanding information with regard to the proposed sources for the supply of water for the scheme.
“Is there any time-frame for completion of the implementation of the said pro- jects?” also questioned the applicants.
Quoting local villagers that the said schemes are yet to be constructed, they also highlighted that Sing-hat, a sub-divisional head- quarters about 30 kms away from Churachandpur district headquarters, faces pe- rennial water scarcity problem.
Further mentioning that piecemeal efforts were made in the past to mitigate water scarcity problem but to no avail, they also cited a previous scheme undertaken in the mid-90s also failing to yield the desired result as the engine (water pump) installed to supply water and store in a reservoir developed technical snag.
Detailing that hand pumps installed in the village are also defunct and no repairing works have been carried out till date by the concerned authorities, the petitioners suggested that to solve the water scarcity problem, long term measures like pumping up of water from large rivers like Tuivai or Tuitha be experimented. School going children who are in the midst of their exams are busy searching for water when they should have been studying and the problem is so severe that taking bath even once in a week is considered a luxury, mentioned their application.
Source: The Sangai Express
