Rs. 400-cr. rural water supply, sanitation project

By Our Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JUNE 13. The Government proposes to take up a Rs. 400-crore rural water supply and sanitation project with World Bank assistance, said the Minister for Labour and Irrigation, Mr. V. P. Ramakrishna Pillai, here on Tuesday. He said the project would cover 15 lakh people in 80 select panchayats in Kozhikode, Palakkad, Malappuram and Thrissur districts. The Government had formed an autonomous institution, `Kerala Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency', to carry out the project.

Mr. Pillai said the Government expected an assistance of about $ 60 million from the World Bank. The appraisal by an expert team from the World Bank for this was completed on Tuesday. Considering the declining value of the rupee, this would come to about Rs. 300 crores receivable during the implementation period of six years. The balance is to be provided by the State Government (75 per cent), local bodies (10 per cent) and beneficiaries (15 per cent).

The project, he said, would be carried out through grama panchayats and beneficiary groups. Maintenance costs are to be met by the users themselves, thus lightening the burden on the exchequer. This would come to about Rs. 30 a month per household.

To ensure sustainability of safe drinking water supply, components such as watershed development, environmental sanitation, health, hygiene and sanitation education and women empowerment have been integrated into the project design.

Special efforts would be taken to include the poor and vulnerable while selecting beneficiary groups. The project has been designed to incorporate beneficiary contribution either through cash or in kind as labour. There is a separate tribal sub-plan project, a special component for the tribals.

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Section  : Southern States
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