MUMBAI, JUNE 2: Following unprecedented crisis, the Congress-led Democratic Front government has drafted a multipronged strategy to tackle acute shortage of drinking water in a record number of 27,697 problem villages and a large number of hamlets.``We need a new long term water policy to deal with the situation. We have proposed to encourage large scale use of drip irrigation or sprinkler system for sugar cane production, regulate construction of new borewells and initiate stringent action against erring industrial houses, which are discharging the untreated effluents into the rivers,'' State Rural Development Minister R R Patil said.Elaborating his contention, Patil said no doubt the economy of the State, particularly of Western Maharashtra, is completely dependent on sugar cane production, there was urgent need to restrict use of water for the crop. ``As per official records, 70 per cent of the water is utilised for cultivating sugar cane on seven per cent of land. My proposal is that we should reduce the quantity of water to at least 50 per cent in a time bound period by introducing drip irrigation as well as sprinkler systems,'' he said.The Minister said majority of rivers, particularly in Konkan belt have been polluted, since industrial houses were releasing untreated affluents into the rivers. ``I have asked the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board to deal strictly with the erring industries,'' he said.Patil said, in absence of regulations, large number of borewells have been set up in urban and rural areas, hence underground water level has touched an all time low. ``If we do not take concrete measures immediately, in the months to come, all villages in the State will face acute shortage of drinking water,'' he added.In an interview to The Indian Express, the high profile Patil blasted the erstwhile Sena-BJP government, saying, for obvious reasons, it awarded contracts for Rs 9,000 crore, despite the fact that it had only Rs 2,700 at its disposal. ``After we came to power in October, we took up emergency schemes by spending Rs 77 crore upto March, while another Rs 45 crore have been earmarked for tackling problem villages,'' he said.Taking stock of the performance of the former Sena-BJP government, he said it had drafted an ambitious Rs 15,011 crore plan to tackle drinking water problem in 27,697 villages. The Sena-BJP alliance was expecting Rs 7,500 crore from Small Savings Scheme, Rs 3500 crore either from the Centre or World Bank and Rs 4000 crore either from the State Government or by way of bonds.As per official records, Patil said, the department did receive substantial amount from the Small Savings Scheme, but not a single paise was released for the drinking water schemes, since the entire amount was diverted to other departments. The department did not receive the grant of Rs 3,500 crore from the Centre or World Bank since it did not concede the directive that at least 10 per cent of the cost of projects should be received from the beneficiaries and out of the Rs 4,000 crore to be raised from bonds, it could mobilise less than Rs 2,700 crore.``When the records were placed before me after I took over the charge of the department, I was stunned when I was informed that against the availability of Rs 2,700 crore, contracts worth Rs 9,000 crore were awarded. Despite the fact that there was no need, the department purchased pipes worth Rs 1,200 crore, which are lying unutilised in villages since last four years,'' he pointed out.Launching a frontal attack on the Sena-BJP alliance, Patil said there was absolutely no planning while drafting the schemes. ``In several villages it was found that multicrore schemes were initiated despite the fact that there was no shortage of water, while in 1,200 problem villages, even an action plan was not prepared,'' he alleged.The Minister found that no schemes were undertaken in villages, which have been provided pipes, while there were no pipes, where wells have been constructed to provide drinking water to the villages.Patil feels that the Sena-BJP government miserably failed to provide drinking water since it completely changed norms for the purpose and wrong priorities. ``It aimed at providing 55 litres of water per head instead of existing norm of 40 litres. Instead of taking up water schemes in such villages where 20 litres per head of water is provided, it drafted schemes in villages which were already supplying 40 litres of water,'' he said.Secondly, Patil said the Sena-BJP alliance had drafted a plan to make the State tanker-free. From the records, it appears that the scheme miserably failed, since the 16 districts, which were declared tanker-free, are being supplied water by tankers since March itself.
