PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
As the year 2025 comes to an end, the Uttarakhand Jal Sansthan (UJS) is yet to receive budget allocations for the permanent restoration of water supply schemes damaged during the monsoon season earlier this year. The secretary (Appraisal), UJS Maneesh Semwal said that UJS assesses damage to water supply schemes across the State every year during the monsoon period, particularly from July to August. This damage is often caused by landslides, cloudbursts and other monsoon-related factors. This year, UJS reported significant damage, with approximately 4,430 water supply schemes affected.
In response to the damage, budget requests for permanent restoration were submitted to the authorities. A total of Rs 151.18 crore has been requested for the affected schemes. While Rs 20 crore was initially received as a token amount, the remaining funds have not yet been disbursed, he said. “During the monsoon season, the focus was on temporary restoration rather than permanent repairs for the affected supply schemes. We had restored these affected schemes temporarily,” he said.
Semwal said that they had planned to permanently restore these schemes once the monsoon season concludes. However, with only a few days left in the year 2025 to end, the budget for the permanent restoration of water supply schemes has still not been received.
Additionally, he said that the State government has been reaching out to various agencies, including the World Bank, to secure funding for the permanent restoration of the affected water supply schemes from this monsoon season. UJS plans to continue approaching and reminding the authorities about this matter, with the expectation that the budget will be received soon.
It will be recalled that earlier the Post Disaster Need Assessment team of the Union government had recently contacted them to discuss budgetary requirements for restoring the disrupted water supply schemes, but they have yet to receive a response.
