In the wake of depleting groundwater levels due to the over exploitation in both rural and urban areas in Uttar Pradesh, the state government has launched a mission on August 17 to conserve groundwater by building groundwater charging stations in 13 districts of the state.
“The charging stations are to be built at the cost of Rs 8 crore. The groundwater charging check dams will be built under the supervision of the chief engineer of the Minor Irrigation Department. The chief engineer will ensure the construction of the dam and oversee all related details,” the press statement mentioned.
Additionally, it will be ensured that the allocated funds from the state government for the approved construction projects are not diverted and are carried out in accordance with the rules of the Uttar Pradesh Budget Manual and Financial Handbook.
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The 13 districts are, Hathras, Badaun, Moradabad, Sambhal, Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Pratapgarh, Sonbhadra, Lalitpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur and Chitrakoot.
“An order has also been issued to release the provisioned funds in this regard,” the press release further stated.
As per the plan chalked out by the the government, Rs 70.5 lakh will be spent in Hathras, Rs 38 lakh in Badaun, Rs 28 lakh in Moradabad, Rs 72 lakh in Sambhal, Rs 80 lakh in Prayagraj, Rs 1.21 crore in Kaushambi, Rs 1.03 crore in Fatehpur, Rs 37.23 lakh in Pratapgarh, Rs 28 lakh in Sonbhadra, Rs 50 lakh in Jalaun, Rs 41 lakh in Lalitpur, Rs. 35.60 lakh in Hamirpur and Rs. 94.16 lakh in Chitrakoot to build the groundwater check dams.
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“Funds have been released and instructions have been issued by the Namami Gange and Rural Water Supply Department to the block in this regard,” it further stated.
The distribution of the allocated funds to the 13 districts for construction work will be undertaken by the Minor Irrigation Department based on the project’s plan.