YUPIA, 14 Jul: Papum Pare Deputy Commissioner Vishakha Yadav emphasized the importance of carrying out accurate household surveys under the District Water and Sanitation Mission (DWSM).
Chairing a DWSM meeting here on Monday, the DC directed the DWSM member secretary to constitute verification boards headed by administrative officers from respective jurisdictions. These boards will be responsible for ground verification of the reported habitations, using a uniform format for consistency and transparency in reporting.
The DC further stressed on convergence between the Urban Development and the Public Health Engineering & Water Supply (PHE&WS) Departments for efficient waste management.
Highlighting the growing concern of plastic waste, she instructed the PHE&WS Itanagar division AE to identify potential vendors who could be engaged in recycling plastic waste.
Itanagar PHE&WS Executive Engineer Debia Padang raised serious concerns over excessive deforestation and unregulated earth-cutting in the Mopu and Mehi areas, which serve as the catchment zones for water supply to Itanagar and Naharlagun. He cautioned that such activities could drastically impact the groundwater table, and urged immediate administrative intervention to protect the vital water sources.
The meeting was held to assess the progress and implementation strategy for the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), 2025, particularly focusing on the left-out and emerging rural households.
As per the preliminary reports submitted by the executive engineers of Yupia, Sagalee, Naharlagun, and Itanagar divisions, a total of 219 habitations have been identified as left-out/emerging habitations under the JJM framework.
Other key points discussed included protection of water sources from pollution; promotion of rainwater harvesting; water source strengthening; and strengthening of sanitation initiatives.
The meeting was attended also by ADC Tame Yajum, DMO Dr Reena Ronya, DAO Maze Peil, executive engineers and officials from the PHED&WS department, and other members of the DWSM. (DIPRO)
