Replace annual water charges with monthly bills for convenience of public: CS

STATE TIMES NEWS

SRINAGAR: Continuing the momentum, Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta again conducted virtual tour of works taken up under the central flagship programme Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) for their early completion across the UT of J&K. He interacted with public and officials of the department for first hand appraisal of the progress made in the mission so far.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Jal Shakti Department (JSD); Mission Director, JJM; Deputy Commissioners; Special Secretary, JSD; Director Finance, JSD; Chief Engineers; Superintending Engineers; and other officers of the Jal Shakti Department either physically or virtually. At the outset, the Chief Secretary asked the officers about the progress of the mission and asked them to meet the deadlines without any fail. He also urged them to expedite the tendering of remaining works so that these are taken up early and completed within the given timeframe. He also talked to locals and PRI members there and enquired from them about the quality and pace of work going on at each site.
He directed that clearances for laying of pipe networks through forests should be provided expeditiously while safeguarding environment. He asked for monitoring such issues at the highest level so that no work gets delayed due to lack of attention.
During the meeting Dr Mehta also directed for dispensing with the practice of charging people annually for water usage. He instead asked for breaking the same into monthly bills so that the consumers find it easy and less cumbersome. He also stressed on switching to digital mode of payments for the ease of customers.