Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Saturday unveiled the logo of Buxi Jagabandhu Assured Drinking Water to all Habitations (Basudha) scheme at Secretariat here.
Naveen also launched Basudha helpline-1916, a dedicated grievance management initiative for water supply to the rural areas of the state.
The helpline will receive complaints from gram panchayats on breakdown and shutdown of tube wells and piped water supply from 6 am to 6 pm, which will be addressed in a time-bound manner.
“I hope the rural people will get access to lodge their complaints regarding breakdown and non-functioning of projects. I would expect the Panchayati Raj (PR) department to take immediate follow-up action on their grievances,” the Chief Minister said.
He instructed the PR department to gear up for execution of the projects and achieve the goal of providing safe drinking water to all households in the rural areas.
The state launched Basudha scheme during 2017-18 as a tribute to Buxi Jagabandhu in the bi-centenary year of Paika Rebellion with a budgetary outlay of Rs 600 crore. The allocation was enhanced to Rs 1,000 crore in the current financial year.
The objective of the scheme is to provide adequate safe water to the rural people for drinking and domestic purposes on a sustainable basis.
In the last 18 months, the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water department has taken up around 4,200 new piped water supply projects and 65 mega piped water supply projects with an outlay of over Rs 10,500 crore while over 3,000 solar dual pumps have been installed in various parts of the state, official sources said.
Under the scheme, 2,500 water quality affected habitations have been provided with safe drinking water and water supply coverage has been provided to all primitive vulnerable tribal group (PVTG) habitation.