Jal Jeevan Mission schemes in Kangra, Chamba stalled due to shortage of funds

The functioning of several water supply schemes under the Central Government’s Jal Jeevan Mission in Kangra and Chamba districts have come to a standstill due to the lack of funds. According to sources, seven water schemes in Kangra and five in Chamba are at present stalled because of the unavailability of funds. The largest among these is the Rs 65-crore water supply project in the Jaisinghpur area of Kangra, which is also facing delays due to the fund crunch.

Sources say that the Union Government had approved around Rs 900 crore for Himachal Pradesh under the Jal Jeevan Mission. However, in the last financial year, the state received only about Rs 130 crore. To add to the problems of the state government, works based on the full approved budget had already been tendered and allotted. The sources say that as a result, the Irrigation and Public Health (IPH) Department — now called Jal Shakti Department — owe around Rs 500 crore to contractors for the works executed under the scheme in the past financial year.

Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also holds the portfolio of the Jal Shakti Department, says that the state has received Rs 130 crore only from the Central Government against the approved allocation of Rs 900 crore. He adds that he is pursuing the matter with the Union Ministry of Water Resources to secure the remaining funds.

He says that the Central Government had recently allocated Rs 300 crore for the Phina Singh Canal in Kangra district and Rs 100 crore for the Bit area water supply scheme in the Haroli Assembly constituency in Una district. “I am hopeful that the Union Government will release the withheld funds,” he adds.

Agnihotri says that the Central Government has imposed a new condition — that funds under the Jal Jeevan Mission in future will only be released once the earlier water supply schemes are handed over to the panchayats for execution. However, he adds that this condition poses practical challenges in a state like Himachal Pradesh. “Most panchayats here are politically aligned, and there is a risk of a bias in water supply, especially during the summer when water scarcity is high in the hills,” he alleges.

The Jal Jeevan Mission is a major drinking water scheme launched during the stint of the previous BJP government in the state and around Rs 4,500 crore was spent under the initiative. However, there were allegations that most of the funds were used for the purchase and laying of pipes in rural areas and little investment was made in augmenting water sources. As a result, the scheme reportedly failed to meet its targets.

Himachal Tribune