'State has approved Rs 7K crore to complete water projects'

Mumbai: The state government has approved over Rs 7,000 crore to complete drinking water projects in scarcity-hit areas in the last four years, said water supply minister Babanrao Lonikar.

Government has prepared a plan for providing drinking water to all villages. Under the National Rural Drinking Water Scheme, the government has approved Rs 7,952 crore for the 10,583 villages.

“Work on 6,624 water projects is underway in villages in Konkan, Nashik, Marathwada, Amravati and Pune divisions,” said Mr Lonikar. “Around 6,500 projects have already been completed in last four years by spending Rs 5,500 crore. During the last four years, the main emphasis was to complete the pending projects,” Mr Lonikar added.

“The water supply department has ensured that funds were properly utilised and action was taken against district bodies who were misusing funds,” Mr Lonikar added further.