Uttarakhand Ravi S Singh New Delhi, February 18 Union Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Uma Bharti will launch national drinking water programme “Swajal” from Uttarakashi district in Uttarakhand on February 20.
Introducing the programme, she said it would be implemented in six states, including Uttarakhand, as a pilot project.
Swajal is a community-owned programme for sustained potable water supply.
She spoke about employment generation expected from the implementation of ‘Swajal’ and the next level of activities under the Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), i.e. solid and liquid waste management, under which a convergence-based programme is being launched next week.
A proposed “Ganga Gram” programme will also be launched in Uttarkashi on February 20.
It will be a model for solid and liquid waste management for all Ganga-bank villages as well as country’s other ODF villages.
Spelling out the roadmap of implementation of cleanliness drive in rural India, she said it would be taken to the next level which included taking up many more places of historic-cultural importance for elevation to improved standards of cleanliness under the “Swachh Iconic Places initiative”.
The initiative was envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
She dwelt on “Galvanising Organic Bio-Agro Resources (GOBAR)-Dhan”- a “Waste to Wealth” initiative of the government announced by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in the Budget address.
As many as 700 districts of the country will be provided access to biogas resources to recycle animal waste and convert it into wealth and energy under the initiative.