Jaipur: The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) on Friday unveiled a statewide summer contingency plan after the state govt allocated over Rs 2 crore for drinking water management, directing officials to ensure uninterrupted supply during peak summer.“Keeping the summer season in mind, adequate budgetary provisions have already been made for drinking water management. Now we have prepared a contingency plan. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the officials to ensure an uninterrupted supply of drinking water. Any form of negligence will not be tolerated,” said PHED minister Kanhaiya Lal Choudhary. Under the plan, executive, assistant and junior engineers have been told to act against illegal water connections and the use of booster pumps at homes and commercial establishments, which disrupt supply. “This is very important for orderly functioning of the drinking water distribution system. Strict legal action must be ensured to avoid inconvenience to general consumers,” an official said. The department has directed that sanctions and work orders for all summer augmentation works be issued without delay, citing rising temperatures, depleting surface sources and falling groundwater levels. All sanctioned works must be completed by April 30. PHED also ordered that completed but non-functional schemes under the Jal Jeevan Mission be made operational on priority. Officials have been asked to coordinate with the groundwater department for contingency works, including installing new tube wells and deepening existing ones. Further, the department has set April 15 as the deadline to commission sanctioned hand pumps and tube wells, and asked officials to expedite pending electricity connections. Engineers will conduct rotational inspections during supply, while complaints at the PHED helpline and 181 call centre will be addressed round the clock.
